DAYTONA HOMES FRIDAY RODSERVATIONS

A RIDER DOZEN ODDS ‘N ENDS

1 – THE USUAL:  It’s a home game weekend for the Saskatchewan Roughriders (9-6) as they host the Edmonton Eskimos (10-5) Sunday afternoon at 2:00 pm in a must-win game if the Green & White wants to host a playoff game in 2014.  It’s going to be an unbelievable afternoon for football at Mosaic Stadium as the forecast calls for sunshine and a high of 16 degrees Celsius.  The tailgaters will be out in full force!  I know my buddies are putting the beer on ice and packing up the barbecue and deer sausage to take to their favourite spot near the stadium.   However the odds are against the Roughriders, as the Eskimos are 4.5-point favourites.

2 – IT’S JOSEPH TIME:  The Roughriders will hold a closed practice Friday at Mosaic Stadium and head coach Corey Chamblin said they plan to split the first team offensive reps between quarterbacks Kerry Joseph, Tino Sunseri and Seth Doege but how would we know?  On Thursday Kerry Joseph got all the work with the first team and I’ve got to tell you he really looked great.  Chamblin admitted as much after the workout, although he said there’s still a little bit of rust to come off.  K-J looked incredibly comfortable and clearly he’s grasped the offense.  He admitted he’s had a lot of sleepless nights this week getting up to speed but I think it’s safe to say he’ll start on Sunday even though the announcement hasn’t yet been made.

3 – QUOTE OF THE WEEK #1:  This one comes from Roughriders GM Brendan Taman when I told him on Monday’s pregame show from Montreal that the whole league was listening and wanted an update on Darian Durant.  I asked Taman what he’d like to say to them and he responded, “Mind your own business!”  It’s true – teams across the CFL are curious about Durant’s status, particularly the West Division.  It would seem it’s driving them nuts.   Wouldn’t you like to know!  But it was amazing to see Darian at practice in a helmet and sweater participating in drills on Thursday, however not throwing.  Apparently that’s coming soon.

4 – QUOTE OF THE WEEK #2:  This one comes from BARRY Taman, the Chairman of the Regina Sports Hall of Fame who held its 2014 induction ceremony last night at Queensbury.  He received a nice ovation when he was introduced on stage by CTV’s Chris Hodges to which Barry quipped at the podium, “Well you didn’t boo the Taman!  That’s good.”  How often do you see two brothers with the identical sense of humour?  It didn’t happen in my family!


3 – THE LADY AT THE GAS STATION:  There’s a lady at my local gas station, a tough old gal, who always asks about the Roughriders whenever I stop in for a fill and a wash.  “What’s happened to our football team?” she quizzed this week.  I told her Darian Durant got hurt, that’s what.  They were 8-2 with him and are now 1-4 without him, and the offensive coordinator is the same guy.  “I was afraid you’d say that,” she responded.  The whole team has sagged without their leader and it’s evident for everyone to see.  Taman, Chamblin and Co. realized after last season Durant is the Face of the Franchise and that’s why they made him one of the three highest-paid quarterbacks in the league this winter.  It’s not rocket science as to why the team is floundering right now.

Durant gets hurt, and the fans are now calling for the heads of Chamblin, George Cortez and Richie Hall.  Honestly, these guys have been through this so many times it doesn’t phase them anymore.  However they know the vast majority of the fanbase is with them.  But the bandwagon has a lot of empty seats right now!  If you’re off, STAY OFF.  Doesn’t a Grey Cup championship and Coach of the Year award buy you at least 12 months immunity?

4 – LAPO KNOWS:  What a tremendous edition to the SportsCage TSN’s Paul Lapolice has been for the Coach’s Playbook Radio Edition presented by the Press Box Sports Bar.  It airs Wednesdays at 4:00 pm on 620 CKRM and on this week’s show I asked Lapolice why our young quarterbacks have faltered while others across the league (Zach Collaros, Bo-Levi Mitchell, Jonathan Crompton, etc.) have thrived when given the chance.  This is what he said:

“Zach Collaros started out 4-1 and I know Zach’s doing some good things right now but if you watched him last year with Toronto, they went 4-0 on the road and they won all those games but they won those games on defense.  Zach made plays with his legs and made enough plays to win the games but by far he didn’t win the games himself.

“Crompton’s done some good things throwing the ball downfield and using his legs but again, defensively they’ve done a tremendous job getting takeaways, scoring on defense and helping the quarterback.  That’s got to happen, right or wrong, for the Riders going forward.  They’re going to have to play great defense, keep the games close, and help them out.

“The Eskimos with Mike Reilly – who’s in his second year as a starter – lead the league in defensive scores.  That has helped them win a lot of football games.  It’s a group effort, especially when you’ve got a young quarterback.

“When I was coach in Winnipeg in 2010 and 2011 and we were rolling through young quarterbacks with no experience, I had to pull my defensive starters in and say ‘Hey listen we’ve got a young quarterback so you’ve got to keep us in it’.  That’s the big thing; you have to keep the process that the team is the team and the defense can’t worry about offensive playcalling and all that other stuff.  Do your job.  Get a 2-and-out and get the ball back to the offense.”

5 – CFL STATISTICAL NOTES:  There were some interesting notes in Steve Daniel’s CFL Game Notes this week.  Here are a few: …. There has never been a 3-way tie for first place in the CFL East this late in a season.  However in 2011 in the West, Edmonton, Calgary and B.C. all finished tied for first at 11-7 … Home teams are 16-4 in the past 20 CFL games … Entering Week 17 there are 18 different configurations for possible playoff match-ups in the East while there are seven different combinations in the West for the semifinal … Rider slotback Chris Getzlaf will suit up for his 100th CFL game on Sunday.  There have been some suggestions that he’s playing hurt, but he was running effortlessly on Thursday.  Time for him to break out … We are done with interlocking games in the CFL this year.  The West finished 28-12 against the East in 2014 which is the highest disparity since 2008 when the West was 26-6.

6 – STILL MORE NOTES BECAUSE THEY’RE SO FUN:  Who will be 2014 CFL Rookie of the Year?  Winnipeg rookie kicker Lirim Hajrullahu leads the CFL in field goal percentage at 91.2% while Edmonton LB Dexter McCoil has three defensive touchdowns this season and only five players in CFL history have had more than three … Last week Edmonton receiver Fred Stamps saw his consecutive-games-with-a-catch streak snap at 111.  That’s got to hurt! … Toronto kicker Swayze Waters leads the CFL with 192 points.  The last Argo to lead the league was kicker Mike Vanderjagt in 1998 with 198 points.

7 – THE FOOTBALL GODS ARE AWAKE:  I believe Ron Lancaster is currently a football god.  So too is Cal Murphy, and Al Bruno just became one.  So it seems Ottawa quarterback Henry Burris is currently stuck on 333 career touchdown passes.  It’s been that way for weeks!  You should know his next touchdown pass while move him past Ron Lancaster into #3 all-time in CFL history.  However it would seem the CFL gods just don’t want to budge.  They’ve got Ronnie’s back.

8 – THAT’S A CLOWN QUESTION, BRO:  Is it a circus in Hamilton?  After Friday’s 34-33 loss in Toronto, Ticats coach Kent Austin referred to rookie returner Terrell Sinfield as “a clown” for taunting the Argo bench during a kick return.  He paid for it, as he was caught from behind and it cost the team four points.  However Sinkfield was named CFL Special Teams Player of the Week for a second time this week.  Sinkfield has had three 50+-yard returns this year.

9 – TWEET OF THE WEEK:  From Dave Dawson (@DaveDawson7) a Shaw TV sportscaster in Edmonton:  “Marketing Errors by the Saskatchewan Roughriders.  #ShortestCFLbooks.”   Take a bow Steve Mazurak and Phoenix Group!  We were discussing another exciting promotion last night which will be in announced in the off-season.  It’s going to be fantastic!

10 – OH GREAT:  Yankees legend Derek Jeter has launched his own website at www.theplayerstribune.com and it plans to eliminate the traditional media as we know it.  You’ll have to read Jeter’s opening column to understand what it’s all about but basically they’re eliminating the middle man and having the athletes write their own columns in their own words.  Each day this week Jeter has rolled out his list of senior editors and they include Seahawks QB Russell Wilson, Clippers star Blake Griffin and NASCAR’s Danica Patrick.  For an idea of how spectacular this is going to be, read Blake Griffin’s column on the first time he ever met Donald Sterling.  He doesn’t hold back.  It’s sort of what we’re doing here with Luc Mullinder’s columns, which are fantastic.

11 – PIC A PAT: Veteran Roughrider centre Dominic Picard, the Angry Frenchman, explained to me on the weekend in Montreal that he’s a huge Regina Pats fan.  So much so that if he can’t make it to the game, he plunks down the money to watch the team on the WHL’s webcast.  He’ll be watching this weekend as the Pats play three games in three nights, all on the road.  620 CKRM will have all the games.  The Pats are next at home on Tuesday when they host the slumping Portland Winterhawks.  As for Picard’s favourite NHL team?  It’s whichever team Vincent Lecavalier is on.

12 – OW, OW, OWWWW!:  Say that in a coyotes’ howl.  Carm Carteri and I have become big fans of the Arizona Coyotes simply because our friend is one of the owners.  That’s pretty rare! With my Dad all but retired from the Dallas Stars it became time to switch allegiances and it was easy to gravitate towards the Desert Dogs.  They’re an exciting team in one of the greatest cities in America and it’s fun to follow their games.

13 – OIL LEAK:  Arizona spanked the Oilers 7-4 Wednesday evening before a full Gila River Arena, populated by many Oilers fans.  Edmonton is winless in four to start a season for the first time since 1995.  Analyst Ray Ferraro told TSN Radio in Edmonton regarding the Oilers this week, “They didn’t look like for one second that they could win (in L.A.).  When belief is stripped away, there is no other asset that matters.”  Sportsnet’s Peter Loubardias mentioned on the SportsCage on Thursday that Oiler fans are calling for coach Dallas Eakins to be replaced by Dan Bylsma.   What a mess.

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THAT’S ALL! ENJOY YOUR WEEKEND
RP
@sportscage