I’ve been waiting to re-start posting on this blog until the Riders announced their new head coach. I figured the dawn of a new era on the sidelines would be a great opportunity to re-boot the Sask Riders Chick Blog and apologize for being so incredibly absent from the blog world.
I waited and I waited. And I figure we’re nine days past Grey Cup… good enough!
So I apologize. Let’s talk football! There’s been so much happening in the CFL off-season in the last 10 days.
We’ve had Toronto hire Scott Milanovich, Chris Jones (paying a $5000 fine in the process), and that other guy.
We’ve had Marcel Bellefeuille fired from the Ti-Cats, Kent Austin interviewing for his job and Mr. Wally retiring from coaching.
Is your head spinning? Every day it’s a new story. It’s like a soap opera.
So about Kent Austin interviewing with the Tiggers… meh. It was bound to happen. Kent likes to bounce around a lot and I didn’t ever think he would return here to Saskatchewan. I mean the man has achieved god-like status here, what more has he got to prove?
He’s responsible for two out of our three franchise Grey Cups. If he did return, mayor Fiacco would probably give him the key to the city, name a street after him and throw a parade. And then what?
Exactly.
He’s got to find a way to win and anything less than Grey Cup glory would be a major bitter pill for Rider fans. He’d be vilified no matter what he did or accomplished and he’d live in a fishbowl with the most rabid fans in the world watching and dissecting his every move.
Don’t get me wrong… I’ve love for him to plant his butt back in Regina. I just don’t think it will happen and if you look at it from his perspective, you can see why Hamilton is such a big juicy prospect.
Let’s see… choose a team bitter with three years of frustrated championship hopes, coming off the worst year in franchise history and the firing of a coach just a few months into a three year contract, where anything less than absolute perfection is unacceptable.
Or… sign on with a team who’s fans are hungry for victory, coming off a good (albeit not great) season where they knocked off the incumbent champs and had a serious shot at the Big Dance for the first time in several years – a team that is thisstinkingclose to being a serious threat in the league – where a homeplayoff game would see grateful fans swooning and a Grey Cup parade nothing short of miraculous.
Which would you choose?
Trust me. If Kent does return to the CFL he won’t be wearing green. (Sorry. I speak the truth!)
And about Mr. Wally. Classy guy. Great coach. Sooo glad he’s gone. Though I must admit the chanting and heckling when he visits Mosaic will be missed.
However, he’s faced with the toughest job around – just ask Ken Miller. He has to hire his replacement. And work with his replacement. Hmm… a much beloved coach sitting in the office upstairs while his players get used to a new guy. Seems fraught with pitfalls, doesn’t it? I do not envy him the task. As Rider fans can attest, it’s not as easy as one would think. And to them I say good-stinkin’-luck.
And as far is our head coach search. I’m not a Taman-hater. I don’t think we’ve seen what he can do yet. I think, in a way, his hands have been tied for the last few years and I’m willing to give him the benefit of the doubt. Seriously, how badly could he screw things up?
We start the season 0-7? Been there.
We fire our head coach mid-season? Done that.
We finish the season with our worst record in history? Been there. Done that. Survived.
I think most Rider fans are pragmatic enough to understand that a Grey Cup appearance next season (while nice) isn’t likely. We’ve got some rebuilding to do and if it takes a couple of seasons, so be it. So I’m willing to cut Taman a bit of slack. As much as I am anxious for announcement of a new head coach, I’d rather he took his time and found the right guy. Rather than an emotionally-stunted, immature, ego-maniac with the eloquence of a wet newspaper. Not that I'm referring to anyone specific.
That said. I have no idea who the new head coach will be. I know who it won’t be… Milanovich, Benevides (the heir-apparent in B.C.) and Kent Grey Cup Austin.
That leaves Corey Chamblin (Hamilton), Dave Dickenson (Calgary), Craig Dickenson (Saskatchewan) and Marcel Bellefeuille (free agent). And probably a few others that no one would recognize the name of anyway.
My personal favourite would be Craig Dickenson. He’s young. He’s fresh. He’s creative. Super nice guy and so humble too. Plus, how he turned around our special teams last year… I mean let’s face it, special teams was the ONLY exciting thing to watch when the Riders were playing last season! It was darn near miraculous considering how laughably ‘special’ they were in 2010. I would love to see what he could do given then reins of the whole team.
BUT… I’d like to see him choose his coordinators (gasp!). Which could mean a few stalwarts of the Green and White might just find themselves on the unemployment line. (But is that so terrible really?)
Ultimatley, I’d to see whoever is named head coach get a few years to grow into the job and grow a winning team here in Saskatchewan. Which means we as fans will have to lay off!
We’ll have to promise to put our butts in the seats, buy tickets and merchandise and watch a few stinker home games and a few more stinker away games. It means we have to prove we still deserve the title of the best sports fans around even if the winning ways are little tardy in coming our way again. They will come though. Trust me. They will.
Cheer long. Cheer loud. Go GREEN!
UPDATE: Ok, so it was brought to my attention by a sharp-eyed reader that this last season wasn't the worst in history. I mean to Google it before I posted and ran out of time. My apologies. Good to know 5-13 isn't the worst we ever did... I think.
No comments:
Post a Comment