10-25-2024, 12:49 PM
(This post was last modified: 10-25-2024, 12:50 PM by ItsFrenchie. Edited 2 times in total.)
Friday, August 30th, 2024, a historic night for the Manicouagan region of Quebec, but on a more global scale, for all public infrastructure works and the energy sector as a whole. The usual suspects, such as the Golden Gate Bridge, the Eiffel tower, Empire State building, other major road works up and coming on the elite public infrastructure scene, couldn’t compete against the big one dubbed “La Manic 5” by locals. It was even surprising to see hydro buddy and relative, the Three Gorges Dam, fall behind the talented concrete wall that stands 702 ft tall, weighing in at 2,9 million cubic yards of beefiness. Sitting still, always blocking the flow of the Manicouagan River north of Baie-Comeau, Blo Cage has been a pillar of stability for 54 years, and feeling young, decided to take its talents south after a successful stint in the Quebec football powerhouse of Université Laval.
This is the story of Blo Cage, of an underdog, of a talent that was always doubted, despite always showing an innate ability to hang in there with the big names, the big dogs, the undisputed favorites for the draft. As a walk-on during his freshman season, Blo Cage would lead his team in first downs, but also lead the league in offensive tackles. He would prove to be a reassuring presence on the Red and Gold offense unit, a steady hand ready to answer the call for a short play to gain a first down, an abled body to plow through and gain the conversion on a 3rd down, making the risk easy to shoulder as a coach calling for a final down play instead of punting the ball. To a certain extent, you can understand the doubters and the haters, hand egg was never the intended area of expertise for the concrete giant.
A Quebec native, hockey was always the priority and what he grew up around, especially up north with nothing much to do in what’s generally a quite bare wasteland of ice, snow and harsh living conditions. He was never very talented, anywhere other than in the net, obviously. That said, he was never able to integrate the minor hockey associations and was eventually banned from playing the sport altogether by Hockey Canada, on a technicality, of being far to large and the “equipment” being illegal, pretty ridiculous to some observers. It was at that point where he turned to other ventures, most notably being a cornerstone of the French-Canadian power grid, obviously. It was some 50 odd years later, a mid-life crisis of some sorts, where Blo wanted to venture elsewhere, figure out an alternative career path, that would take full advantage of his ability to be large, be steady and work with a team. He also dreamt of knowledge, of understanding how he works, being aware. He enrolled in civil engineering, with no sporting hopes whatsoever, and was eventually noticed for his big frame by the Laval defensive coordinator and prompted to tryout for the team in the coming days, which ne did, having never suited up for football before. On that sporting side, the rest is history as they say.
In a match against Sherbrooke, Blo would get noticed by a Minnesota Grey Ducks scouting team, namely scout extraordinaire turned General Manager, Dunkler, who saw the potential athlete Blo could become and how he could help strengthen that offense unit. They would get lucky, as most teams ended up not showing any interest in Blo, not even to the point of doing due diligence on a player that may not seem like a full package but could offer much more than what appearances would suggest, and Minnesota understood that. A 41st overall pick falling deep into the 6th round, his rookie season would go as you’d expect from such a blocking menace. On the offensive side of things first and foremost, the lad would see action in 14 games, gaining 5.8 yards on average when the ball was thrown his way, getting 14 1st downs and a 23.7 1st%. He’d arguably struggle to find some rhythm on this side of his game, but it was never the focus, and the space he would create and the reassurance he would offer star quarterback Greg Hirsch would prove much more valuable in the Minnesota offense system than anything else. He would be a rock on that area, never allowing a single sack over the season, with 18 pancakes and some monster blocks along the way. Its this ability to see the field and allow his teammates to operate more easily that would see the trio of running backs of Federico Cinco, Kool Kyle and Duke Silverback to collectively score 19 touchdowns over the season. Obviously, not all can be attributed to Blo’s performances on the field, as he was more than likely a cog in the offense machine, but you can always only be as strong as your weakest link, and his adaptability proved critical when came time to drive the play forward and enable success across the field.
« Blo was always resilient, able to notice his own weaknesses and be adaptable to criticism and feedback in a near instantaneous way, be it on field or during video sessions with the offense coordinator. It was an absolute pleasure to coach Blo, such stunning characters rarely come across a coaches field, so you have to enjoy every second of it » said Constantin, Laval Head Coach and legendary U Sport coach, further adding that « this strength of character and personality will be the defining factor of Blo’s career, allowing him to truly elevate his game at every single level and rise to whatever occasion presents itself ». This has proven true so far, safe to say.
Ahead of the ISFL draft, most analysts didn’t even pay attention to Blo, once again. Most teams also didn’t bother to really consider his talents, despite essentially offering much more than what he was supposedly worth on paper. That never stopped Blo believing in himself though. Its not career defining to see people avoid you, what truly is ends up being where you get to call home and how you act once you are there. As the picks were flying, Blo never once waivered, always confident he’d get his name called. It would take some time, and he saw some absolute bums get called ahead of him, especially No Pix who he’d previously not heard great things about. They had shared a lunch the day of as Pix saw Blo alone and decided to have a chat, something about PST and the pacific northwest being a superior region? Nonsense thought Blo, and Pix would come off as an arrogant goof, but alas, talent speaks or something like that. As the stands emptied, as newly drafted players were leaving for media assignments, photos, team duties and leaving the premises to hang out with friends and families to enjoy the big occasion, it was in front of a near empty venue that the Baltimore Hawks would select Blo with they 54th selection, trading a next season 3rd round pick to the Orange County Otters in order to secure his services and bring him to the great state of Maryland to pursue his career.
It was mixed feelings, on the one hand being elated with joy to have his dream come true, but also to be able to follow into the footsteps of a childhood hero, legendary Baltimore safety Bourtol Halcomsby who had just announced his retirement. He’d watch him play as he progressed in his career, and he’ll never forget the infamous interception converted into a touchdown in the season 43 Ultimus final, which would end up being the only touchdown scored that game and propel the Hawks to a first Ultimus win in a decade’s worth of football. With all these souvenirs rushing, safe to say Blo was overwhelmed with joy. Where it became a bit awkward was backstage, when all the Baltimore picks were united and reality set that Pix was now a teammate, and that he’d have to overcome this at some point, given he’d be the general leading the offense for years to come at that point, that he’d rely on him to send him the ball, and that Pix needed Blo to keep him safe. All those worries were eventually washed away in part, despite the EST and PST banter, when came the first practice of training camp and some level of chemistry, at least on a personal level, started to set in, which was reassuring and a positive sign of things to come
While he was able to ride such an insane high, the culmination of literal years of hard work, Blo would see a wall named reality from up close sooner rather than later. With a few layers of adversity piling up, namely personal health issues, family drama, nagging injury and lack of opportunity to train adequately, his draft plus one season would see his growth as a player stall, not for lack of determination, or will, but due to what some say is what it is. Things like these happen to the best of us surely, and it’s about how you get back up. In a meeting with his general managers of Portland, they were very vocal about his lack of application of training when healthy, and just head scratched in confusion about how little he was able to actually be there, which was a concern given the first season where he was a reasonably good presence on the team. This was further echoed in a yearly routine meeting with his Baltimore bosses who echoed this sentiment. It was a slap in the face, a deserved one, a wakeup call of sorts, when they confidently blurted out these few words: you’re not ready, do better. He knew that to be the truth, he never hid from it, but them being out there now, them being in the realm of things that actually happened had a stomach-churning effect and he nearly threw up in disappointment, not at his team, but at himself. He was a proud fella, and this was definitely a kick in the gonads. That being said, there was no time to moan about what was going on, not a single second more to have it live rent free in your head, it was time to move on, put your head down and get back to work to make sure you can become the best damn tight end the league has ever seen, and that’s a promise Blo made to himself at that very moment, a promise he vowed to keep and made it a question of personal pride to get where he wanted to go, game was on so to speak.
So, what comes next for the rural Quebec prodigal hydro dam. Jury’s out as far as what he can accomplish, but analysts have already seen him out-do the projections, doubling down on his work ethic, really betting on himself to succeed and unlocking a new level of progression and development, something few teams were successful in unearthing that could come back to bite them in the rear. At this point in time though, with at least another season to go in Minnesota, its unsure what kind of impact he could have in Baltimore. What’s sure is that Blo Cage is leaving no stone unturned and making sure he’ll do everything in his power to have the biggest one possible, to become the best version of himself, to become the best blocking Tight End the league has ever seen, and to once again make sure that all the haters, the doubters and the ignorers notice him. When all is said and done, perhaps the career won’t have been all that he wants it to be, but on the other hand maybe it’ll amount to be much more than what anyone had expected of him, but actually what he himself had always believed he could accomplish, and as things stand, he’s well on his way to set himself up for all the success in the world.
2025 words
This is the story of Blo Cage, of an underdog, of a talent that was always doubted, despite always showing an innate ability to hang in there with the big names, the big dogs, the undisputed favorites for the draft. As a walk-on during his freshman season, Blo Cage would lead his team in first downs, but also lead the league in offensive tackles. He would prove to be a reassuring presence on the Red and Gold offense unit, a steady hand ready to answer the call for a short play to gain a first down, an abled body to plow through and gain the conversion on a 3rd down, making the risk easy to shoulder as a coach calling for a final down play instead of punting the ball. To a certain extent, you can understand the doubters and the haters, hand egg was never the intended area of expertise for the concrete giant.
A Quebec native, hockey was always the priority and what he grew up around, especially up north with nothing much to do in what’s generally a quite bare wasteland of ice, snow and harsh living conditions. He was never very talented, anywhere other than in the net, obviously. That said, he was never able to integrate the minor hockey associations and was eventually banned from playing the sport altogether by Hockey Canada, on a technicality, of being far to large and the “equipment” being illegal, pretty ridiculous to some observers. It was at that point where he turned to other ventures, most notably being a cornerstone of the French-Canadian power grid, obviously. It was some 50 odd years later, a mid-life crisis of some sorts, where Blo wanted to venture elsewhere, figure out an alternative career path, that would take full advantage of his ability to be large, be steady and work with a team. He also dreamt of knowledge, of understanding how he works, being aware. He enrolled in civil engineering, with no sporting hopes whatsoever, and was eventually noticed for his big frame by the Laval defensive coordinator and prompted to tryout for the team in the coming days, which ne did, having never suited up for football before. On that sporting side, the rest is history as they say.
In a match against Sherbrooke, Blo would get noticed by a Minnesota Grey Ducks scouting team, namely scout extraordinaire turned General Manager, Dunkler, who saw the potential athlete Blo could become and how he could help strengthen that offense unit. They would get lucky, as most teams ended up not showing any interest in Blo, not even to the point of doing due diligence on a player that may not seem like a full package but could offer much more than what appearances would suggest, and Minnesota understood that. A 41st overall pick falling deep into the 6th round, his rookie season would go as you’d expect from such a blocking menace. On the offensive side of things first and foremost, the lad would see action in 14 games, gaining 5.8 yards on average when the ball was thrown his way, getting 14 1st downs and a 23.7 1st%. He’d arguably struggle to find some rhythm on this side of his game, but it was never the focus, and the space he would create and the reassurance he would offer star quarterback Greg Hirsch would prove much more valuable in the Minnesota offense system than anything else. He would be a rock on that area, never allowing a single sack over the season, with 18 pancakes and some monster blocks along the way. Its this ability to see the field and allow his teammates to operate more easily that would see the trio of running backs of Federico Cinco, Kool Kyle and Duke Silverback to collectively score 19 touchdowns over the season. Obviously, not all can be attributed to Blo’s performances on the field, as he was more than likely a cog in the offense machine, but you can always only be as strong as your weakest link, and his adaptability proved critical when came time to drive the play forward and enable success across the field.
« Blo was always resilient, able to notice his own weaknesses and be adaptable to criticism and feedback in a near instantaneous way, be it on field or during video sessions with the offense coordinator. It was an absolute pleasure to coach Blo, such stunning characters rarely come across a coaches field, so you have to enjoy every second of it » said Constantin, Laval Head Coach and legendary U Sport coach, further adding that « this strength of character and personality will be the defining factor of Blo’s career, allowing him to truly elevate his game at every single level and rise to whatever occasion presents itself ». This has proven true so far, safe to say.
Ahead of the ISFL draft, most analysts didn’t even pay attention to Blo, once again. Most teams also didn’t bother to really consider his talents, despite essentially offering much more than what he was supposedly worth on paper. That never stopped Blo believing in himself though. Its not career defining to see people avoid you, what truly is ends up being where you get to call home and how you act once you are there. As the picks were flying, Blo never once waivered, always confident he’d get his name called. It would take some time, and he saw some absolute bums get called ahead of him, especially No Pix who he’d previously not heard great things about. They had shared a lunch the day of as Pix saw Blo alone and decided to have a chat, something about PST and the pacific northwest being a superior region? Nonsense thought Blo, and Pix would come off as an arrogant goof, but alas, talent speaks or something like that. As the stands emptied, as newly drafted players were leaving for media assignments, photos, team duties and leaving the premises to hang out with friends and families to enjoy the big occasion, it was in front of a near empty venue that the Baltimore Hawks would select Blo with they 54th selection, trading a next season 3rd round pick to the Orange County Otters in order to secure his services and bring him to the great state of Maryland to pursue his career.
It was mixed feelings, on the one hand being elated with joy to have his dream come true, but also to be able to follow into the footsteps of a childhood hero, legendary Baltimore safety Bourtol Halcomsby who had just announced his retirement. He’d watch him play as he progressed in his career, and he’ll never forget the infamous interception converted into a touchdown in the season 43 Ultimus final, which would end up being the only touchdown scored that game and propel the Hawks to a first Ultimus win in a decade’s worth of football. With all these souvenirs rushing, safe to say Blo was overwhelmed with joy. Where it became a bit awkward was backstage, when all the Baltimore picks were united and reality set that Pix was now a teammate, and that he’d have to overcome this at some point, given he’d be the general leading the offense for years to come at that point, that he’d rely on him to send him the ball, and that Pix needed Blo to keep him safe. All those worries were eventually washed away in part, despite the EST and PST banter, when came the first practice of training camp and some level of chemistry, at least on a personal level, started to set in, which was reassuring and a positive sign of things to come
While he was able to ride such an insane high, the culmination of literal years of hard work, Blo would see a wall named reality from up close sooner rather than later. With a few layers of adversity piling up, namely personal health issues, family drama, nagging injury and lack of opportunity to train adequately, his draft plus one season would see his growth as a player stall, not for lack of determination, or will, but due to what some say is what it is. Things like these happen to the best of us surely, and it’s about how you get back up. In a meeting with his general managers of Portland, they were very vocal about his lack of application of training when healthy, and just head scratched in confusion about how little he was able to actually be there, which was a concern given the first season where he was a reasonably good presence on the team. This was further echoed in a yearly routine meeting with his Baltimore bosses who echoed this sentiment. It was a slap in the face, a deserved one, a wakeup call of sorts, when they confidently blurted out these few words: you’re not ready, do better. He knew that to be the truth, he never hid from it, but them being out there now, them being in the realm of things that actually happened had a stomach-churning effect and he nearly threw up in disappointment, not at his team, but at himself. He was a proud fella, and this was definitely a kick in the gonads. That being said, there was no time to moan about what was going on, not a single second more to have it live rent free in your head, it was time to move on, put your head down and get back to work to make sure you can become the best damn tight end the league has ever seen, and that’s a promise Blo made to himself at that very moment, a promise he vowed to keep and made it a question of personal pride to get where he wanted to go, game was on so to speak.
So, what comes next for the rural Quebec prodigal hydro dam. Jury’s out as far as what he can accomplish, but analysts have already seen him out-do the projections, doubling down on his work ethic, really betting on himself to succeed and unlocking a new level of progression and development, something few teams were successful in unearthing that could come back to bite them in the rear. At this point in time though, with at least another season to go in Minnesota, its unsure what kind of impact he could have in Baltimore. What’s sure is that Blo Cage is leaving no stone unturned and making sure he’ll do everything in his power to have the biggest one possible, to become the best version of himself, to become the best blocking Tight End the league has ever seen, and to once again make sure that all the haters, the doubters and the ignorers notice him. When all is said and done, perhaps the career won’t have been all that he wants it to be, but on the other hand maybe it’ll amount to be much more than what anyone had expected of him, but actually what he himself had always believed he could accomplish, and as things stand, he’s well on his way to set himself up for all the success in the world.
2025 words