DAYTONA HOMES FRIDAY RODSERVATIONS

HOME GAME WEEKEND NOTES:

1 – THIS IS IT:  It’s the final home game of the year for the Rider Nation.  That alone should bring some added to excitement to Saturday’s showdown between the Saskatchewan Roughriders (9-8) and the Edmonton Eskimos (12-5).  The teams will conclude the 2014 regular season Saturday at Mosaic Stadium at 6:00 pm on TSN and the CKRM Rider Radio Network.  If Environment Canada is to be believed, the high is minus-1 on Saturday and there’s a 40% chance of flurries.  The oddsmakers still haven’t set the line for the game.  Bundle up!

2 – SO MUCH FOR “5 FOR FIVE”:  There was a cute slogan making its way around the city that referred to Kerry Joseph leading the Riders to their fifth Grey Cup championship in 2014.  It was called “5 FOR FIVE”.  And that may still happen, however Rider Radio analyst Carm Carteri predicts – based on what he’s seen in practice the past two weeks – that Darian Durant will start the division semifinal game.  If that’s the case, I’m all for it and it would mean the Riders will have a heckuva 1-2 punch at the quarterback position in the CFL Playoffs.

3 – PLENTY OF INTRIGUE:  Tonight’s CFL games will be watched closely: Ottawa at Toronto and Calgary at BC.  The Argonauts need a win to keep their playoff hopes alive while BC needs a win to finish third.  Assuming Toronto wins, then on Saturday the Hamilton Tiger-Cats need to beat Montreal by two points to finish second in the East Division and they need to win by seven points to claim first.  However if they lose, they’ll miss the playoffs all together!!  What a crazy scenario.  Indeed it’s a playoff game for Kent Austin’s Tiger-Cats who have every intention of being back in the Grey Cup for a second consecutive year.

As for the Eskimos, many are wondering what type of effort they’ll put forth Saturday night in Regina.  I figure they’ll just want to get out of it and be as healthy as they can heading into the playoffs.  CKRM’s Luc Mullinder feels the Eskimos will want to “stomp a hole” in the Riders and send a message to them in the event of a playoff meeting next weekend.  That’s possible too.  Regarding the status of banged-up Edmonton quarterback Mike Reilly, the rumour is it’s his ankle that’s giving him problems.

4 – IS A RIDERS-VS-WEST GREY CUP BAD?:  The guy taking tickets at the Southland Mall Cinema Tuesday evening wanted to let me know that if the Riders crossover into the East Division for the playoffs and advance to the Grey Cup, “It’ll throw the whole CFL out of whack!”  I don’t agree.  In fact I think it would be the best thing the CFL will have seen in years.  Canada’s Team versus Calgary, Edmonton or BC in the Grey Cup would be mind-boggling and something the nation would never forget.  Of course none of it will happen if B.C. loses tonight and the Riders beat Edmonton tomorrow but being the first crossover team to advance to the Grey Cup wouldn’t be all bad.  And while you’re there, you might as well win it.

5 – CHICK JOINS GREAT COMPANY:  Roughrider defensive end and CFL sack leader John Chick is the first defensive player to be named MVP of the Roughriders since Jerald Baylis in 1993 and before that, Bobby Jurasin in 1987.  Hopefully Chick can boost his sack total in this game against the Eskimos and enhance his chances of securing the league awards for M.O.P. or Most Outstanding Defensive Player.  Incidentally the Eskimos’ Odell Willis is only three sacks behind Chick and he’s the Eskimos’ Defensive Player of the Year so he’ll be looking to pad his stats as well.  Ironically Odell once occupied Chick’s position in Regina, but the two were never teammates with the Riders.

6 – TURNAROUND IN “E-TOWN”:  The Eskimos’ 12-5 season represents the biggest one season turnaround in Edmonton Eskimos’ history as they were 4-12 last year.  I asked Corey Chamblin who should get the credit and he pointed at head coach Chris Jones and GM Ed Hervey.  He said Hervey’s been on championship teams and knows how to build a winner from the ground up while Jones has been waiting for his chance to be a head coach in this league for over a decade.  However as far as Coach of the Year goes – which is based on the regular season – TSN’s Paul Lapolice told CKRM this week he’ll be voting for Montreal’s Tom Higgins.  Lapolice figures the finalists will be Higgins, Jones and John Hufnagel.

7 – THE LOYAL DISORDER OF RIDER PRIDERS:  Wednesday marked the one year anniversary of the passing of legendary sportswriter Bob Hughes.  If you think about it, Hughesie missed the greatest day in Saskatchewan history, November 24, 2013 when the Roughriders beat the Tiger-Cats 45-23 in the Grey Cup in Regina.  I’ve often wondered what Bob would’ve written about that game and this fall I’ve looked at the stars and wondered what Bob would have said about the 2014 Roughriders.  My guess is he would’ve said something along the lines of, “The Loyal Disorder of Rider Priders has called an emergency meeting on the shores of the Mighty Wascana.  The drums are beating at a record pace, as are the hands wringing, with the injury to fallen franchise star Darian Durant….”   Something like that.

8 – ROUGH YEAR FOR PEOPLE NAMED DURANT:  Many of us wish we could press “Fast Forward” and get to the end of 2014.  In a lot of ways, it’s been dreadful.  But for the Durant family it’s been particularly tough as Darian Durant suffered that torn tendon on September 7 which threatened to end his season while his brother Justin – a linebacker for the Dallas Cowboys – went down with an arm injury two weeks ago which ended his season.  And Kevin Durant – the star of the NBA’s Oklahoma City Thunder – has yet to play a game this season due to a leg injury and his team is off to the worst start since it moved from Seattle.

It hasn’t been a great year for Calgary running back Jon Cornish either, who’s been concussed twice and is iffy for the CFL’s West Division Final.  We’ve had our clashes with Jon – who turned 30 on Wednesday – but I’m pulling for him to get back on the football field ASAP.  We need villains like that in the CFL.  They’ve gone by the wayside in the WHL but they still exist at this level.

9 – LOTS GOING ON:  The Regina Pats (8-8-1) conclude a five game homestand tonight when they welcome the Calgary Hitmen to the Brandt Centre.  The Queen City Kids sit third in the East Division, trailing Brandon and Swift Current but are ahead of P.A., Moose Jaw and Saskatoon.  Tonight represents a glowing opportunity for the Pats to get above .500 and gain some valuable conference points.  After tonight they visit P.A. on Wednesday before returning for a three game homestand and then we won’t see them forever.

Unfortunately I’ll have to miss this game as I’ll be over at the CKHS watching Regina-Manitoba in Canada West basketball action but that will be fun too.  And on Saturday we’ll all be listening to CKRM2 (www.sportscage.ca) as the Regina Rams visit the Calgary Dinos in a Canada West football semifinal at 4 pm.  Mitchell Blair and Marco Ricci will have the call.  Incidentally Roughrider linebacker Sam Hurl – a former Dino – is making bets with all former Rams on the Roughriders regarding the outcome of the game and he’s giving them 14-points!  A fool and his money are soon parted.

10 – AT THE MOVIES:  I mentioned being at the movies and we were able to take in a couple of flicks this week.  Of the two, St. Vincent (starring Bill Murray and Melissa McCarthy) was by far the best.  When you read the plot it doesn’t sound like a comedy but there are side-splitting moments.  Two thumbs up from the MMG.  The other was Ouija which we watched to get into the Hallowe’en spirit.  It’s a horror/thriller but was far from the scariest I’ve ever seen.  One of my kids said, “It wasn’t that scary but the scary parts were REAL SCARY!”  One thumb up from the MMG.

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THAT’S IT FOR TODAY.  HAVE A GREAT SPORTING WEEKEND!
RP
@sportscage