10 WEEKEND THINGS
10 WEEKEND THINGS
1 – HOLD YOUR HORSES: The Roughriders’ 37-1 loss in Calgary Friday night was as unsightly as it was lopsided. But that really is where the criticism should stop (other than losing the turnover battle 5-0 and giving up 434 yards offense). All Friday amounted to was a glorified practice with the “real” Roughriders left behind in Saskatoon. To bash offensive coordinator Stephen McAdoo right now for his play selection in preseason Game 1 just makes the Rider Nation look bad. Do we really need to start this so soon? ??♂️
2 – GAME THOUGHTS: The Rider game star was Cody Fajardo who performed above our expectations. 10/12 passing for 73 yards plus 36 more on the ground. He led what should’ve been a 2nd quarter touchdown drive before, ironically, turning it over on a 3rd-and-goal sneak at the Calgary 1-yard line. It’s ironic because short yardage has been Fajardo’s forte throughout his young CFL career. Anyway the Riders seem to, so far, have an able-bodied back-up for Zach Collaros. ?
3 – LEADERS: The Riders’ team leaders from the Calgary game: Passing (Fajardo, 73 yards), Rushing (Fajardo, 36 yards), Receiving (Austin Ellsworth, 3/36 yards), Combined Yards (James Butler, 69 yards), Tackles (Elie Bouka, 4). Jon Ryan had a 39.3 yard average on 3 punts. Our ranking of the QBs in the game – 1) Cody Fajardo, 2) Isaac Harker, 3) David Watford, 4) Ty Gangi. Ellsworth was the receiver who caught my eye in training camp this week. Rookie WR Max Zimmerman from Germany looked a little overwhelmed Friday night. ?
4 – CALGARY: Still hate that horse … Like you, I was surprised to see Bo Levi Mitchell start the game but if anybody knows QBs, it’s Stampeders bosses Dave Dickenson and John Hufnagel. They left the MVP in there long enough to knock off the rust, get a lead, and then shut it down. CFL pundits say *this* is the year the Stamps falter because of too many off-season losses. Right! ?
5 – LOOKING AHEAD: If you’re mad about Friday night’s result, you’re going to be in for a long summer. You may want to dial back that Sensitivity Meter a tad. Now if the Riders stink in this Thursday’s preseason finale at home against Winnipeg, then there will be some cause for concern. Zach Collaros should play 3 quarters and it’s time to knock the rust off, similar to what Bo Levi did Friday night. With the addition of Charleston Hughes, Zack Evans, Micah Johnson, Ed Gainey, Naaman Roosevelt, et al, you’ll start to get a taste of the *real* Roughriders and how they match-up against Winnipeg’s 1’s. ?
6 – FOR THE W: The Blue Bombers looked efficient in their 20-3 pasting of the Edmonton Eskimos Friday night at I-G Field. Kudos to the Bombers for livestreaming the game from their website. It streamed flawlessly on my Iphone. (Hopefully the Riders do the same for Thursday’s game). Matt Nichols got the night off and Andrew Harris was used sparingly for The Blue. Willie Jefferson affected the game with a forced fumble and recovery at his own 1-yard line in the first half. But I tuned in to watch Bomber back-up QB Chris Streveler because he seems to be the object of Rider fans’ desire (the centrepiece of a Grey Cup run in 2020) but to me he looked fairly pedestrian. His stats were average. Let’s see what he does Thursday in Regina. As for the Eskimos, coach Jason Maas has rested prized free agent Trevor Harris in this preseason. Like with the Stamps, we defer to Maas for knowing what’s best at that position. ?♂️
7 – RAPTORS: Couldn’t wait to get to this point! ESPN loudmouth Stephen A. Smith – to whom I listen everyday – was broadcasting his show from Toronto’s Scotiabank Arena on Friday and said the Golden State Warriors are “in trouble” in these NBA Finals. They’re down 1-0 to the Raptors and the Dubs are still without star Kevin Durant. It was with 9:44 to go in the 4th quarter of Game 1 – and with the Raptors enjoying a sizeable lead – that it finally dawned on me: “OMG Toronto could actually win an NBA title”. I understand it’s very early in the series but for now, they’re in the driver’s seat. Can’t wait for Game 2! ?
8 – DRAKE: His postgame antics where he referred to Golden State’s Draymond Green as “trash” went too far. Cameras caught Drake and Green jaw-jacking at the final buzzer, while Steph Curry smiled devilishly nearby. I understand that people are saying, “They’re friends!” or “Drake does this all the time”. But to me, THESE ARE THE FINALS. You don’t need to be giving Golden State any extra motivation. Believe me, teams use any little angle they can find at this point in the season. To me it’s dangerous for Drake’s mouth to be writing cheques that the Raptors players have to cash. ?
9 – STANLEY CUP: The wait between these championship games in the NHL and NBA is almost too much to bear but it’s great for building anticipation and media coverage. Game 3 of the Stanley Cup Final goes in St. Louis Saturday night (6:00 MT) with the Blues and Boston Bruins tied up 1-1. The Bruins have to be kicking themselves that they aren’t up 2-0 after blowing an opportunity in Game 2. St. Louis has had to work SO hard to score in this series, and then end up giving up easy ones in their own end. But, the Blues got their split and I stand by my prediction of St. Louis in 6. Here’s hoping Tyler Bozak and/or Jaden Schwartz can bring the Stanley Cup by the Rod Pedersen Show set this summer! ?
10 – READY TO LAUNCH: There were thousands of views of our Rod Pedersen Show news conference on Thursday and several more downloads of the audio. I believe we have something here. The premiere of the show goes Monday at 10:00 am MT on Facebook Live and our Week 1 guests include Eric Tillman, Chris Getzlaf, Jim Hopson, Marshall Hamilton, Colby Armstrong, Gary Lawless, John Lynch, Jim Lang, Arash Madani and co-hosts like Derek Meyers, Kelly Remple and Darren Dupont. The boys are ready to rumble! You can *Listen Live* to the audio-only on RodPedersen-dot-com. I understand there will need to be some training of viewers’ and listeners’ habits in the early going but I promise this new sports show is going to be must-see. Think of Facebook pages like TV channels. You need to “Like” our page The Rod Pedersen Show, and then you’ll automatically receive notifications when we’re going live. Thanks for following and supporting!!!! ?
RP
GIving up 434 yards of offence & 37 points isn’t nothing. To put it in perspective, Mitchell left the game with almost 9 minutes left in the 1st Quarter & the score 3-0. So the Stamps backup QB’s beat the Riders 34-1. Let’s not sugarcoat it for once. The sky isn’t falling but the team stunk.
Yes I think this will be a throw away year, stuck in neutral untill the coach can gain control
Time to give up this blog now that you have a show.
Its all about 2020, Grey Cup here we come!!
What is with the fixation on the score? So, Fajardo punches it on third and one, there is seven. McRoberts makes the grab on Watfords’ beauty of a throw, there is another seven. Would that make you feel better? Now the game is close, so what does that count for? I am sure Calgary is beating their chests today, saying “Yeah baby, we smashed the Roughriders!” Not likely. They did not score at will, and considering their time together, the Riders played up to the Stamps on several occasions. I am getting tired of the McAdoo bashing, I thought he… Read more »
Randolph what with the IFS AND BUTTS? If the Riders would have had 1 less player on the field in 2009. YOU HAVE A GREY CUP. Dumb! You can not ever look at a football game in the manner you speak. That’s just ridiculous. Rod I understand what your saying with Hold your Horses. However every other team in that played this weekend had no trouble scoring points. Some really nicely thrown touchdowns of more than 20 yards. I understand why people are upset at the Riders OC. He’s in charge of the offence and the offence failed to score… Read more »
I agree, it’s a throw away year. I’d bet the farm the Riders end up 5th in the West. But for me, the good news is that my Rider Pride has returned. It left about two and a half years ago but it’s back and I can’t wait for the season to start.
3rd & 1 you’re absolutely right. Why do we always have to apologize when we lose & make excuses?. If Collaros had played in the final we would have won because he would have made those 2 throws to Roosevelt. Unfortunately what’s forgotten is that Bridge, via his running, got the Riders into position to make those throws. Collaros most of the time ended his marches in FG range. Would the Bombers have played the same game if we scored 2 or would they have put Shreveler in earlier? Down 1 pt going into the 4th, Shreveler & Harris ran… Read more »
Randolph. “The playbook cannot be opened up given it is the first preseason game??????” It doesn’t count in the standings. What better time to try something new? If you’re not going to open up the playbook when you’re down 20-1 going into the 4th quarter in a meaningless game, when are you going to try opening up the playbook? Whatever your playbook was at that point in the game wasn’t working.
Real pitiful showing by the riders……if Calgary was playing their rookies/backups etc and smacked the Riders’ ass, why couldn’t the Riders’ rookies/backups do the same??? What happens when the so called “real” Riders play other team’s “real “ players??? We,re definitely in line for a non playoff season if they keep putting in this kind of effort. Drake, that stupid dumb- ass-hat continues to embarrass himself and the Raptors to the rest of the world…….he should be banned to a seat in the nosebleed section. And hey Roddy, you’re jumping back on the Raptor’s bandwagon…..wasn’t long ago you were saying… Read more »