Week 3: Holy Sheets!

When everyone knows you're going to run the ball and you're still able to run the ball, that says a lot about your team.

As the minutes ticked down in the fourth quarter last night, quarterback Drew Willy handed the ball to Kory Sheets for what should have been a couple of yards. A simple play to get a first down and run some time off the clock.

I mean everyone in the stadium knew he was going to run the ball. I knew they were going to run the ball. Little old grandmas watching TSN on the tellie in Saskatchewan knew they were going to run the ball. And yet Sheets busts through the seam and scampers - not just for a first down - but 37 yards into the end zone for his second major of the night.

That's when you know your O-line is freaking unreal and your running back is a bloody rockstar!

Throughout the game it was clear the Argos decided to blanket slot backs Chris Getzlaf and Weston Dressler, but it was also clear that in the mind of offensive coordinator George Cortez, it really didn't matter. The wide receivers - Taj Smith and Rob Bagg - stepped up with the former catching two long bombs for 141 yards and two TDs and the latter grabbing his first major score since being sidelined by injury for two season.

Not to mention our blazing run game.We rolled over the Argos with a final score of 39-28 to come home remaining undefeated at 3-0.

The only down side to the contest was the collective gasp, heard throughout Rider Nation when Darian limped to the sidelines after getting sacked in the third quarter. Back up Willy finished out the fourth quarter. Even after icing his ankle, Doubles said it was still tender. Hopefully, the 10 days before our next battle will allow our fearless leader enough time to bounce back.

Booyahs to... 

Darian Durant. I haven't said much about Doubles on my blog. I love this guy. He is our best hope at a Grey Cup, but I've been saying for years he can't carry the team all by himself. This year he has become the leader we all knew he could be. Further, he is showing a maturity and poise on the field to a level I don't think we've ever seen from him. He is patient and cycling through his reads efficiently and without panic. And let it be said, our quarterback is one tough nut. He take a hit and in fact, against Toronto last night he was even making hits! Our quarterback was out there throwing blocks for the run game.

Kory Sheets. Seriously. I know! I can't stop talking about his guy. No one can! Each game he's played this season he's gotten better. In the first three games of the season, he's rushed for 131, 134 and 178 yards respectively. I don't know how high he can go! He scored two touchdowns last night and looked like there was no stopping him. If his blistering pace of yard accumulation continues, I have no doubt that he will surpass his stated goal of reaching 2000 rushing yards this year! Holy Sheets!

The Defense. I was going to call out an individual, but there's no separating Rey Williams, Weldon Brown, Craig Butler, Tyron Brackenridge, Diamond Ferri, Ricky Foley, John Chick or even Dwight Anderson. From those on the line to the secondary, they are functioning as a unit. They are like one big bad fist out there. Trust me, Toronto players woke up this morning feeling like they'd just lost an MMA match. Kudos to Richie Hall for bringing different attacks throughout the game. With five sacks (FIVE!) they disrupted Ricky Ray enough that he never could get into a rhythm. After the game Ray commented, "They did a lot of things that we saw on film but they did a lot of bringing guys and pressure . . . and I didn't have time for a good enough look (downfield)." I've always said if you sack Ricky a couple of times he'll crumble. 

Special mentions to the entire O-line for busting open lanes for Sheets to hit all night. The Roughriders really do put the team in team, you know? These guys are all willing to go to war for each other and it shows.

Boos to... 

I got none. That was just four quarters of great football on both sides, really. I don't think Toronto has anything to be ashamed of. They proved they are a very good team. Last night they just couldn't quite match the physical play of the Riders.

What they should be embarrassed about is the lousy turn out! Beautiful night for football in Toronto and they only manage to scrape together 18,000 people to see it? What makes it worse is Rogers Centre always looks like a deserted cavern without 30,000 or more filling the seats. Kudos to those who were there, because they did seem quite loud (with the exception of the fourth quarter when I could clearly here the crowd yelling, "Let's go Riders!" Nice.)

In other markets they are building bigger and better stadiums and in Toronto they might need to build a smaller facility to house their pathetic crowds. For shame! C'mon Argos, get your marketing department to get their poop in group. That's a disaster!

Meanwhile... Rider Nation can continue grinning and basking in the 3-0 start to the season. I know there's a long way to go and there's a lot of football to be play, but this is just plain fun!

Cheer long. Cheer loud! Go GREEN!

Week 3: Preview

Tomorrow the Riders are in the big TO, facing Ricky Ray and the defending Grey Cup Champs.

Roughrider Ricky Foley has been the focus of attention as he'll meet the team he left during free agency in February. He'll also be returning home. The Ontario native will find himself in familiar digs, surrounded by familiar teammates. Only this time he'll be wearing green.

What does his family think? Has he betrayed the Argos? Huh. Interesting to contemplate. What is very clear is Foley's eagerness to hit his old team.

And I mean hit them. The guys is frothing at the mouth to prove something. I love his intensity and I hope he gets to pound his old teammates often.

In a ceremony before the game, Foley will also receive his Grey Cup ring. Let's hope come November, we can order him a new one.

I'll be on the road during the game, so I'll be tuning in by Roughrider Radio. I'll re-watch it on the weekend and let you know my thoughts.


My picks for this week:
Saskatchewan at Toronto, 5:30 p.m., Thursday: This will be the first real test of the Riders this season. I expected Calgary to do something other than roll over and play dead. I have no doubt the defending Grey Cup Champs will put up a bitter fight to the end, but I say Riders come out on top and go 3-0.
Calgary at Montreal, 5:30 p.m., Friday: Neither of teams is looking pretty. In fact, Montreal looked like they were playing on life support. The god-like AC looked very, very, almost pathetically, mortal. I'm giving Montreal the edge, but only because Calgary had the crap beat out of them last week by the Riders.
Winnipeg at Hamilton, 4:30 p.m., Saturday: Wowsers. The basement dwellers will both be gunning to get that first W. I think I'm liking Winnipeg for this one. Buck looks like he's got his head together for the moment. [EDIT: My bad. Winnipeg already has a W. Oops!]
BC at Edmonton, 7:30 p.m., Saturday: Edmonton has a ways to go before they can be consistent contenders, although there will be drama in the stadium as Edmonton QB Reilly faces his old team. I'm gonna say BC has got this.

Cheer long. Cheer loud! Go GREEN!

Week 2: Post game: Stamping the Stumps!

This post is a little late, but, you know, here it is. I also have a confession to make at the end.

So like... have you stopped grinning yet?

Me either.

Rider Nation was all smiles last Friday as we walked and sang our way out of Mosaic Stadium. The game, against what we all thought was the CFL's hottest team, seems to have proven the Riders may just be as good as hyped.

The game was so amazing and even included our favourite ex-Rider Jarrell Freeman leading the "Bring 'em out!" How awesome was that? The fly-past was just perfect.

And then the game was spectacular. Despite the early stumble on the opening drive when Calgary scored a touch down, there a was sense that the Riders were going to handle it. And by the third quarter, the Riders were clearly in control.

One thing I thought was truly remarkable: there is such a sense of confidence with this group. I hate to say it, but the Riders got a bit of swagger in their step right now. Maybe swagger isn't the right word. More like... confidence. Even when there's a blown play, like Prince Miller getting beat by by Joe West for a 64-yard bomb on the opening drive. Or like Darian getting sacked in the third quarter.

These kinds of minor setbacks used to bring Riders to near panic. You could feel it. This year it's like there's a collective breath on the sidelines and "That's all right, we'll make 'em pay on the next play."

And make 'em pay is exactly what we did.

The injury list for Calgary this week is long. Tate is out with a strained ego. Maurice Price is also out. Other guys are dinged up.

It's easy to understand why. Doubles tossed 258 yards and Kory Sheets made the Stumps eat 133 yards of turf. Sheets seemed to completely confuse the Stumps' defence actually. They just didn't seem to know what to do with him.

Meanwhile, Getzlaf and Dressler piled up the yards - snagging over 200 receiving yards between the two of them.

Seriously, the Stumps' defence was out-manned, out-played and out-gunned. By the end of the game they didn't know what hit them. To be fair, Calgary's defence was on the field for most of the second half.

Boo-yahs of the game: 

Kory Sheets. When Sheet was tackled on the four yard line we all thought he was down and the play would be whistled dead. Turns out his knee never did touch and the feisty running back took it to the end zone for his second TD of the year. Then he payed homage to Geroy Simon (still sidelined with a leg injury) with the Superman pose. And the place went nuts.

Dressler. Ten receptions for 108 yards and one TD. He and Getzlaf were the living nightmare for the Calgary Defensive Coordinator.

Our entire offensive line. For the most part, Doubles had all the time he needed to let the play develop and get the ball to the play makers. They made room for Sheets when needed and protected the quarterback. So big ups to the big guys.

Boos of the game: 

Juwan Simpson. I can't even find words to say about Simpson pile driving Dressler. If Dressler had been hurt, I was concerned Simpson might not make it to the dressing room alive. Dude, that move isn't cool anywhere, but in Mosaic Stadium surrounded by 35,000 rabid fans trying to injure the star receiver is having a death wish. He was penalized (15 yards) and fined by the league. He deserved a suspension as well, but that might be hoping for too much.

John Gott. For holding down Jermaine McElveen while ripping his helmet off and then pounding on his head. All while an official tried to pull him off. Yeah, buddy. You can't do that. Gott was fined as well. (McElveen was fined, too, but I'm thinking it was probably like $1.50)

Now I have a confession to make and some shameless self-promotion.


I am a writer by day. I write and edit special features for The StarPhoenix. This blog is completely my own.

As part of my work, I also write a column for Inside Green. You'll find Inside Green inside the Leader-Post before Rider home games. The StarPhoenix will also carry a shortened version of Inside Green before selected home games. There I write as The Rider Chick. So if you're looking for more of this chick, watch for Inside Green.

There. Shameless self-promotion is complete.

Cheer long. Cheer loud! Go GREEN!

Week 2: Stompa da Stamps!

It’s the home opener. Friday night. And we’ve got a showdown with our division rivals – the Calgary Stampeders. Some of us are still smarting from the playoff loss to the Stumps last season, so there’s a bit of revenge in mix as well.

It’s only Week 2 in the CFL, but the stage is already set for one epic battle tonight at Taylor Field. Coach Chamblin threw down the gauntlet for the fans to be as loud as possible. He wants to see how many time count violations we can get Calgary to take. Oh dear goodness, he’s unleashed the beast! Rider Nation will come unglued! I know how loud we are without a direct challenge from the coach. At his instigation they’ll be covering their ears all over Regina tonight. Hang on people!

This will be a historic home opener from the start. New seating has expanded the capacity at Mosaic to 40,000 for this game. Last I heard there were almost 35,000 tickets sold which will make it the largest crowd ever at a Saskatchewan home opener. Suh-weet! I get tingles already.

Kory Sheets is going to make Calgary eat it every time he touches the ball. If we’re going to compare running back stats tonight, I say Sheets will make Jon Cornish look like he’s trying out for the soccer team. Our D will come up and stuff the little Cornish hen.

Getzy is going to have a lot of fun. The Saskatchewan product always has a spectacular game against the Stumps and I have reason to believe this will continue.

It’s Dwight Anderson’s birthday today. Happy birthday, dude! I can think of no better way to celebrate than to see him snag a pick six from Stumps QB Drew Tate.

And while I’m on the subject, why are people raving about Tate? He’s hardly even played as a starter. Didn’t he miss the playoffs last year because of a hang nail? At any rate I hope John Chick introduces himself and often. Between Chick, Foley, Sholo (Shologan picked up two sacks last week against Edmonton) and the newly returned Tearrius George, Tate better be wearing some extra padding. He’s gonna take a beating.

And please, please, someone find a way to distract Nik Lewis! How the big guy can lumber (let’s be honest, it doesn’t look like running) as fast as he can blows my mind! Someone stop him!

I’ll be in the stadium tonight thanks to the generosity of some friends. I promise to fill in their seats and be as loud as my voice allows. This vicious cold I am fighting may dictate exactly how much I can do vocally, but I’ll be doing my best! Stand up, Rider Nation!

The Stumps have won four of their last five trips to Regina. I wanna see them sent packin’! It’s time to Stompa da Stamps!

Cheer long. Cheer loud! Go GREEN!

Week 2: preview

Much ink and bandwidth has been devoted to the Dwight Anderson situation this week. I hate to add to it. Because truly, what else is left to say? “He’s a hot-head.” “No place for that on the field.” Blah blah blah...

I’m not sure I could add anything intelligent to the discussion. I couldn’t make out what gesture Anderson made on the replay. I couldn’t make out if he was still beaking at the Edmonton sidelines or if he was talking to his teammates. And certainly couldn’t tell you if it was a case of misunderstanding the defensive play signals. Beats me!

What was bloody obvious was Anderson lost his head. We can all agree on that. He eventually calmed down after taking two (!) objectionable conduct penalties. It could be partially to do with his reputation in the league, as well. He has apologized. But stopped short of saying it wouldn’t happen again.

I’m not sure what else some fans are wanting from him. Blood? He apologized. Coach Chamblin is cool with him. I’m cool with him. (He has been assessed a fine by the league, but he is appealing the decision.)

Truthfully, it’s done. It’s time to move on.

In other Rider news, Greg Carr was released. I gotta admit this one shocked me a little. Maybe this was part of an effort to reduce salary costs and get under the cap. I have to admit despite his size he never seemed to quite be able to live up to expectations. Even still, I wish him well. Class act right to the end.

And Superman will not make his debut at Taylor Field this week. That’s too bad. I hope Geroy is feeling better soon. I can’t wait to see him pose in the end zone of Mosaic when he gets his first TD. Hopefully, it’s soon. After all, we paid an awfully big price to get him!

This week we are up against the Calgary Stumps and I gotta admit until last week I was feeling pretty good about our chances. After seeing them play B.C., I’m like… gulp. But I’ll leave my game thoughts for tomorrow.

My picks for the week:

Thursday, Winnipeg visits Montreal. I think the Als have this. Although, I have to say, Calvillo looked a wee bit tired last week AND in the preseason game against Toronto. Honestly, it’s like his feet are made of lead lately. Is he running in sand out there? I hope the Als have better protection for him this week, he can’t take the beatings like he used to. And don’t even get me started on Buck! Oi! I think Winnipeg has a long way to go before they can put together four quarters of quality football. I’m calling Montreal, but I gotta admit I’m not totally sure about this one.

Thursday, Toronto visit BC. After the lickin’ Calgary laid on the Leos last week, BC will be hungry to get the W. Meanwhile, Toronto looks good, but there were a few cracks in the Grey Cup Champs’ armor. I say Toronto comes out on top, but it should be a great game.

Friday, Calgary visits Saskatchewan. There’s no underestimating the 13th man and they are jacked for this contest. And why not? It’s the home opener against their bitter rivals with added seating. Can you imagine 40,000 Rider fans in one place? Bring ear plugs, people. I just hope we come up with a solution to the Cornish problem. Trust me, this one will come down to the wire and I predict Saskatchewan comes up with a win.

Sunday, Edmonton is at Hamilton. Hamilton for sure. They almost eeked out a victory against the reigning Grey Cup champs last week. I’m pretty sure they can handle the Schmoes!

Week 1 offered some surprises and some not-so-surprises. What will week 2 bring? 

Cheer long. Cheer loud! Go GREEN!

Week 1: wrap up

Well, my great and grand plans of blogging BEFORE the Rider game were sidelined by the many-splendored thing called life! The Canada Day long weekend has once again felled my youngest with a chest infection, which meant a very long wait at a walk-in clinic.

The long weekend also brought droves of company. It's all good! I love hosting family and friends, but it didn't leave much time for me to hit up my blogging machine. So here it goes. Please forgive!

Saturday afternoon's game against the Edmonton Eskimoes was a treat to watch. So often the stadium in Edmonton has confounded our best efforts. Last year, for instance, we managed to make their quarterbacks look like Ricky Ray. And Ricky Ray they surely weren't.

It's been a while since I've seen the Green and White firing on all cylinders. Each faction of the team was fired up with equal intensity and it brought Durant three touchdowns and 171 yards and ZERO interceptions. True, our offence kind of went cold in the second quarter, but thankfully our defence managed to make the Schmoes look old, tired and listless.

The exception was the massive hit in the third quarter on Diamond Ferri by Schmoes Matt O'Donnell, as Ferri ran back an interception. That's right. The only highlight-worthy play by the Evil Empire was a frustration hit as our defence intercepted them and ran it back for 37 yards. Ooooeeee... it's not fun to be an Esks fan right now.

(As a child of the 80s, you must appreciate just how much I enjoy watching the Schmoes lose. Badly. And often. The Evil Empire looks doomed to mediocrity for the foreseeable future, too!)

Ferri looked like a MACK Truck hit him. I do hope he's able to play by Friday! Ferri, just like the rest of the Wolf Pack, looked hungry as they feasted on a weaker Edmonton team with two interceptions. The first on a very poor decision by Reilly to throw the ball on the last play of the first half while practically standing on his goal line. (Psst... dude, take a knee!)

Booyahs of the game go to: (A few out of many)

Kory Sheets. Seriously. The dude racked up 131 yards on the ground and two receptions for another 14 yards. At one point all the players were piled up in a bunch and the next thing I know, Kory came shooting out the other side. Like woah!

George Cortez. He's. The. Man. Loved the play calling throughout the game and the trick play with Dressler tossing a potential TD to Durant was pure gold. If it had worked, anyway. Loved the fact that they attempted it. Edmonton looked like they had no answer to our offense. It was great to see Durant look so in control and so composed as he fired off first downs to a host of star receivers. Can you believe we were up by 14 points before Dressler even caught a ball? Woot! Woot! Dressler is amazing, but it's nice to see the little guy doesn't have to catch everything for us to win a game. We've got enough talent on the field, let's use it.

Taj Smith. Okay, so watching Smith streak past us on his way to a touchdown last year remains one of my fondest memories of the 2012 season. His spectacular circus catch and run (ball bobbled by Dressler, off the foot of a defender, snagged out of mid-air by Taj for massive pick up) still makes me smile to even think of it. So to say, I've been cheering hard for this guy to become a starter, is an understatement. He caught five balls for 43 yards and a TD. Beyond that, there is no give up in this guy. He also had a key block on the Kory Sheets TD. He's all in and I love him as a Rider.

Getzy. I'm giving one last quick nod to a guy who had a bit of a rough go. Oh he made his catches and was still one of the top Canadians in the league, but a severe case of the drops last season garnered him boos at Mosaic at one point. To see him tearing up the field on Saturday was a thrill in itself. Talk about redemption! Three catches, 67 yards and a TD. Way to Chris!

The boos of the game go to:

Mike Miller for a cheap shot in the end zone on Sheets touchdown. He was already in the endzone. I don't know why a push at that point was even necessary. I'm still scratching my head why the official didn't call it as a late hit as Sheets was pasted to the track outside the end zone.

Dwight Anderson for losing his mind in the third quarter. I'm not sure what precipitated his meltdown, but there just isn't room for such a boneheaded move in the West Division. Anderson is lucky it wasn't a closer game. I do hope the guy gets help for his demons. I think he so badly wants to prove to fans in Saskatchewan that he's worthy of being here. In a way, my heart broke a bit for him. He's a great player, but he needs to get his mental stuff locked down before he has the likes of Nick Lewis and Jon Cornish beaking at him this Friday. I have no doubt Coach Chamblin had a very candid heart-to-heart with the man after the game. Here's hoping we never have to see that side of him again.

That's my thoughts for now.

Here's how my picks for last week made out:
Montreal vs Winnipeg. I said: (Montreal’s got this on lockdown unless AC comes completely unglued.) I was right. Montreal won 38-33, but it was a squeaker. Either Montreal's worse than we thought or Winnipeg is getting it together. Finally.
Hamilton vs Toronto I said: (Gotta pick the reigning Grey Cup Champs for this one. They did look pretty sharp last week when I saw them play at Varsity Stadium – a subject I will blog about in the near future!) Score was 39-34 Toronto.
BC vs Calgary I said: (Tough call really, but I’m going to give the edge to BC) Calgary defeated BC 44-32. BC looked amateurish. No way to sugar coat that. Calgary looked, um, rather scary actually
Saskatchewan vs Edmonton (Despite the perennial issues we have winning in Commonwealth Stadium, I’m going to say Riders.) Riders won 39-18. So nice to conquer the ghosts of Commonwealth.

So I'm 3-1. Nice. It certainly won't last. After all this is the CFL and anything can happen on any given day.

Cheer long. Cheer loud! Go GREEN!

CFL 2013: Week 1 preview

Eeeeiiiiii!

It’s CFL season. It’s like Christmas only with nicer weather!

So the regular CFL season kicks off tonight with the Winnipeg Blue Bombers hosting the Montreal Alouettes at the brand spankin’ new Investors Group Field. Could be a good game except for the fact that the Blue Bummers forgot to do any actual work during the off season. Like what were they doing? Maybe the management and coaches were out there slinging bricks in order to get the stadium ready on time and didn’t have time to, you know, actually put together a football team.

(As a total snipe-y side comment, it should be noted this stadium was barely ready to open this year and was originally scheduled to open last season. It was delayed due to weather – mainly wind. Like really? You planned a major construction project on the prairies and never thought it might get windy? There, got the snipe out of my system! Maybe.)

Maybe the Bummers will even score a touchdown this game. (I guess the snark wasn't done!) Hopefully, their porcelain quarterback will manage to make it through the the whole game without getting injured. In a way that would be an accomplishment of its own.

Oh, it’s nice to be trash-talking, er… talking football again. Even if it is about the Blue Bummers. I promise a new post by Saturday to preview the Riders’ game in Edmonton. After all this is a Rider blog and you probably came here to read about the Riders.

For now I will leave you with my picks for the Week 1:

Thursday, June 27, Montreal vs Winnipeg (Winnipeg straight up! I kid! Montreal’s got this on lockdown unless AC comes completely unglued.)

Friday, June 28, Hamilton vs Toronto (Gotta pick the reigning Grey Cup Champs for this one. They did look pretty sharp last week when I saw them play at Varsity Stadium – a subject I will blog about in the near future!)

Friday, June 28, BC vs Calgary (Tough call really, but I’m going to give the edge to BC)

Saturday, June 29, Saskatchewan vs Edmonton (Despite the perennial issues we have winning in Commonwealth Stadium, I’m going to say Riders.)

Cheer long. Cheer loud! Go GREEN! <-- so great to be saying that again!