Post-game post week 1: All Dressler-ed up

I survived. Three days without wifi. Go me.

On to football. I listened to the game on CKRM with Rod Pedersen and Carm Cateri. As always the pair did a bang up job. It was kind of painful to watch the game online at TSN.ca once I got home. 

That was a freakin' awesome game. There just aren't many things to talk about aside from how amazing it was. I agree with TSN's Schultzy it was great to see Durant get his mojo back. He was in the groove and unstoppable.

Odell Willis made me like him and that's no small feat, since I vowed not to like him after the DUI incident in the off season that threatened to keep him training camp. But he was in the face of Henry Burris on almost every snap. And cleanly as well.

Speaking of Burris... the man looked like he was looking for his mamma by the end. He could do nothing. Hand the ball off, Rider defense picked it up and shut down the play. Toss the ball to a receiver, it was batted down, re-directed by Saskatchewan or dropped by a Ti-Cat. It was not a pretty night for the much hyped Hamilton Kitties.

Personally, I feel no pity either. They were cocky. They were full of themselves. They thought they were all that, a bag of chips and a side of slaw. Their efforts on defense were anemic at best. Durant picked it apart at the seams and Dressler found hole after hole after hole, charting up almost 190 yards and three touchdowns in the process. Dressler was a machine out there. I could rave about him all day. He was all over the place. Did Hamilton forget to cover the little guy? Double D for his part had a banner game with 390 yards in the air and four touchdowns. It was a textbook dismantling of an unprepared team.

If I were a Hamilton fan at the game, I would have asked for my money back. It was a pathetic outing by a team that said they were prepared to dominate this season.

Even shiny new Ti-Cat Andy Fantuz looked... um... well, dull and lifeless and hideously out of place. By the end he even refused to take the hand of Mike McCullough to help him off the ground. How far the mighty has fallen.

I'm certain there were a few glances from Andy to the celebratory Rider bench with a bit of wistfulness in his eyes. Sometimes you gamble and win. Sometimes you gamble and get your face pushed into the turf. Repeatedly. Such is the nature of sports. And life.

It was a very disciplined and well-managed game by the Riders. My hats off to Corey Chamblin. They looked like they knew what they were doing. And isn't that what the fans have been craving since that miserable season of 2011? We've gone from the season of misery to the season of mastery. (And I'm choking on it, but I got that line from Rod Black.)

We may not win every game from here on out, but it's comforting to know the Green and white will at least compete. And not just compete but bring excitement back to football at Mosaic.

My booyahs go to:

Darian for taking charge of this team. He looks focused, composed and mature. He even leaped into the fray when Chris Patrick got ejected from the game, hoping to get him to think about how he was hurting his team. And of course, the much-talked about Dressler catch off the turf. It was Darian who hustled his posse to the line to get the next play off before the Tiggers could throw the challenged flag. He's prepared and he's gonna tear up the field this year.

Dressler for just being Dressler. This little guy goes flat out on every down. He's consistent. He catches nearly everything that's thrown at him and I don't think he gets near enough kudos for being as amazing as he is. He's in for a banner year.

Kory Sheets. Holy Sheets! This kid is on fire and I am so glad he's in green. He looks so comfortable out there, before you know he's gone 15 yards! It's crazy. Love watching him. Can't wait to see him light it up on Sunday at Taylor Field against Edmonton.

I have to end by rubbing a little salt in the wound... my hubby is out of Rider Pep Band losers pool. He picked the Riders as the surefire losers in Week 1. (I know!) I told him it's the best $10 he's ever lost. To be fair, there weren't too many who thought Saskatchewan would come out and dominate the Tiggers quite like they did.

(For the record, I picked Winnipeg to lose and they did. So I'm still in it for week 2!)

Cheer long. Cheer loud! Go GREEN!