Have you ever had one of those weeks when everything that could go wrong did? And not just wrong, but like fantastically, epically sideways? I'm in the middle of one of those right now. It's just one of those miserable weeks.
And I think in a way, that's exactly what happened in the Riders loss to Calgary last week.
First off, we don't have the best record in McMahon stadium. Let's face it, Taylor Field West isn't exactly kind to us. And I'm not just talking about heart breaking Grey Cups either. We just don't do well there in general.
This time we blew a 17-point lead in the final five minutes. It's palm-to-face gob-smacking, but not unheard of. I mean this is the CFL. The Stumps themselves blew a 12-point lead the week before against Montreal in the final three minutes.
Which proves the old adage in this league: No lead is safe.
And there was no one to blame really. Or rather no ONE in particular to blame.
A catch at a crucial time. A defensive stop at a crucial time. A simple first down in field goal range even! And this would be a much happier post.
However, some days are like that. You drop your phone in a puddle. Lose your keys. Lock yourself out of the house. Spend thousands of dollars on car repairs and have your laptop die. Some days are smooth sailing down a freshly paved highway and other days the wheels come off as you careen down pitted gravel road and hit the ditch and lie on the ground aching and thinking: Crap! I'm not wearing clean underwear."
Seriously. Some days are just that bad. And I don't think it's indicative of how good or bad our team is. It just proves there are areas to work on. And it just proves Coach Chamblin's philosophy - it's a team win/loss. Forty-two guys out there fell apart at the seams. Just like 42 guys mopped the floor with Hamilton in Week 1.
But there were some bright spots:
Kicker Chris Milo. I know, I know. His percentages aren't that great. BUT, he hit a long field goal during the game that most said he couldn't hit. He's got streaks of greatness and I'm willing to wait out some of his struggles. His punting has for the most part been rock solid and is giving the opposition a deep field to work with. So that's good. Besides, it could be worse.
Weston Dressler. He can almost walk on water, I'm sure of it. But last week, he looked human. After making a diving catch in the end zone, he actually dropped a couple of catches. Including what could have been a game winning touchdown. But getting back to that diving catch - classic Dressler play. It was awesome to see him in fine form gettin' the job done. I have no doubt we will see more of that in the games to come.
Durant. His game management and time management is absolutely skillful this year. With all the quarterback controversies brewing with other teams (I'm looking at you Winnipeg), it's it nice to know we've got a huge talent at the helm? Things could be way worse than throwing one interception in 16 quarters of football. Believe me! The Boo Bummers are coping with their starting quarterback Buck Glass-Jaw Pierce out with injury and their back up quarterback looking um... less than spectacular behind centre and all the while they're 0-4 with no wins on the horizon. See things could be way worse.
While we are at it, a few months ago if someone had said we would be sitting at 3-1 to start the season I would have thrown a freaking parade! At this point in last year's season of misery we were at 1-3 and our third win didn't come until September 11. So really 3-1 is a great way to start. As long as we don't let the one game loss become a streak, we'll be fine.
In a way it's almost a relief. Durant finally threw his first pick. Which isn't good per say, but at least all the talking heads on TSN can stop talking about how we hadn't turned over the ball for however many quarters. (Seriously, TSN needs more talking points during games because if I hear one more time how the Ti-Cats kicker comes from Aussie rules football, I may snap and break my TV!). Now we can move on to a different talking point with the Riders. I was beginning to worry that when it happened it would be like the world was ending. But it wasn't. Two turnovers in four games is nothing. It's a stat all the other teams are jealous of. So whatever. If we can continue to control those, that'd be great.
I have to admit I am rather impressed by the reaction of Rider Nation. I was expecting full vitriol against Durant for the pick or the D-line or Dress and Getz for the drops. But I haven't heard much of that. It was simply a loss. And it happens.
This week we get ready for the Ti-Cats and as the TSN talking heads pointed out umpteen times last week already it's the return of Andy Fantuz. (Not to mention former Rider kicker Luca Congi who gets no mention in these promos!) I'll have a round up of other CFL news later this week and then a pre-game post before the Ti-Cat melee on Saturday.
Cheer long. Cheer loud! Go GREEN!
[Sorry for the lag in blogging. The aforementioned laptop issues continue. Blogging from an iPhone is not an option. An iPad on the other hand...]
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