DAYTONA HOMES MONDAY MORNING GOALIE

OTTAWA – Parliament Hill or an anthill?  The House of Commons was teeming with tourists on the Sunday of the August long weekend.  It’s hard to believe this is already Day 5 of what will eventually be a nine day road trip for the Saskatchewan Roughriders.  The first three days were a blur of travel and prep for Saturday’s 38-14 Rider victory over the RedBlacks which improved their record to 3-2.  Here are some photos of the roadie so far…

Does it get better than this????  I’m glad I got out of bed early Sunday morning in time to catch this parade along Charlotte Street.  These guys (and gals) were rolling past around 9:30 am EST.  Parliament Hill is only a few blocks from the Riders’ hotel.

Tourists craned their necks to get good shots of the troops.  It’s a vastly older crowd of visitors, much different from our trips to, say, Las Vegas.  There you’re weaving through crowds of twenty-somethings from the American Midwest carrying yard-long drink holders and holding each other up.  Ottawa is a tourist attraction for your Mom and Dad, but it’s a great one.

MONDAY NOTES:

– The Riders are 3-0 when winning the coin toss this year and 0-2 when they don’t.  Obviously Darian Durant’s “tails” call Saturday night was the winner.  Maybe it’s just a coincidence but there’s strategy behind it as well.  Clearly Corey Chamblin knows what he’s doing.

– At this time I have no injury information from Saturday’s game and Monday is listed as a “day off” with no media availability so updates will be sparse.  The key one obviously is guard Brendon Labatte who left during the first series against Ottawa with a foot injury and did not return.  Quarterback Darian Durant appeared to take a knock on the knee during the second half but I shared an elevator ride with him after the game and was walking pain free.

– KR/CB Tristan Jackson was the Riders’ MVP in Saturday’s game.  To go along with his 111-yard missed field goal return, he chipped in with an interception and two pass knockdowns.  He’s indefatigable.  There were a few times when he lay motionless on the turf after plays but he came right back out when his number was up.  He said after the game he repays Corey Chamblin for his loyalty by “giving it all I got”.  He sure does.

– Several respected Ottawa football people asked if Saturday was a potential “trap game” for the Riders, and if they’d overlook the RedBlacks.  I noted that the convincing win over Toronto got this team back on track and they’re as focused as ever.  As it turned out they dominated Ottawa pretty much from wire-to-wire.  It would appear they’re back to being a juggernaut.

– Don Yanowsky is the RedBlacks special teams coordinator and he dug deep in his bag of tricks Saturday night.  Some worked, like the onside punt which was successfully executed for only the third time in CFL history, but the others did not.  I questioned why they’d do so many zany things but one Roughrider player said on Sunday, “Why not? The conventional stuff wasn’t working for them.”

– The players took it easy on Sunday.  Receiver Chaz Schilens had a rather intense workout in the hotel gym while teammates Brett Swain, Ryan Smith and Ben Heenan went for a swim.  They earned it.

– The Henry Burris rivalry with the Rider Nation is dead.  There wasn’t any build up with the Rider villain before the game and there certainly wasn’t any during the game.  One Rider player said he heard a fan trying to get the “HENNNNN-RYYYYYYY!” chant going in the crowd but nobody joined in.  After last year’s Grey Cup result, any illwill toward’s Hank is gone.

– However there’s some significant illwill regarding Burris lingering in Hamilton.  Ticats Coach/GM Kent Austin is getting major heat in Steeltown for unloading Henry in the off-season.  Burris said a few weeks ago it was clear he wasn’t going to be “Kent’s guy” and a change was needed.  Hey, I love them both but I can see it.  I suppose it’s tough to teach an old dog new tricks.  However I shudder to think where the RedBlacks would be without Burris.

– It’s an absolutely magnificent thing to have the CFL back in Ottawa.  There are so many colourful CFL personalities in Ottawa like Ken Evraire, Jeff Avery, Darren Joseph, Jock Climie and Glen Kulka and they were all smiling a mile wide Saturday night.  That was before the game anyway.

– It’s going to be a bit of a logistical scramble in the days ahead.  The Riders will hold a brief rundown at a Gatineau, PQ football field on Monday and then hold a closed practice there on Tuesday.  Their Wednesday practice is TBA before they head to Winnipeg Wednesday evening ahead of their Week 7 game against the Blue Bombers on Thursday.  They’ll be holding conference calls with Regina media in order to get their interviews in but there will also be media availabilities in the hotel lobby for those of us lucky enough to be here.

– 620 CKRM’s SportsCage will be broadcast live (fingers crossed) from the Senate Tavern sports bar on Monday and Tuesday afternoon and then from Hooter’s Winnipeg on Wednesday.  We’ll have several CFL personalities on location with us.

– And then it’s the 5-1 Blue Bombers in the Riders’ sights for their next game.  Investors Group Field has proven to be an unfriendly place for Saskatchewan who lost 25-13 in Week 11 there last year.  Quarterback Darian Durant and middle linebacker Rey Williams were both beaten up significantly in that game.  However, from the sounds of things, there will be a large amount of the Rider Nation on hand for the clash.  Agricultural Armageddon as former Bomber PR man Shawn Coates once put it.

– It’s a short week for the Riders, but aside from the injuries, that’s not a huge concern for the team.  GM Brendan Taman noted on Saturday’s pregame show that they went into BC on a short week in September last year and the subsequent victory turned their season around.

– Note to Curtis Mullen in Kansas City: Please email me.  Your accreditation for the Chiefs’ two preseason games has been approved.  I will forward you the email.

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CAN’T WAIT FOR THURSDAY! ENJOY HOLIDAY MONDAY
RP
@sportscage