DAYTONA HOMES MONDAY MORNING GOALIE

10 MONDAY THOUGHTS – SOME FOOTBALL RELATED

1 – WORLD’S BEST FANS (?):  Take a good look at that Canadian Press photo from Friday’s Roughrider game.  It’s a great shot of one of Taj Smith’s two impressive touchdown catches in the first half of the Saskatchewan Roughriders’ 19-14 preseason loss to Edmonton.  Where the heck is everyone?

We’re not used to seeing empty seats at Mosaic Stadium for Rider games but the past two games (albeit preseason) have drawn 13,014 and 15,353 respectively.  Last year there were 30,000+ for the home preseason game against Calgary.  We gave fans a pass for the first game this year, the Ottawa encounter, because there were too many factors conspiring against it.  However the only reason to keep fans away from the park this past Friday night was a threat of rainshowers and while it sprinkled a bit at the start of the game, it was clear the rest of the way.

IT’S TIME TO WAKE UP SASKATCHEWAN!

The 2014 season is here.  Your team is the defending Grey Cup champion.  It’s time to get behind them in their quest to repeat.  Also, with NFL megastar reporter/broadcaster Peter King coming to Sunday’s season-opener against Hamilton because he was told this is the place to be in the CFL, we’d better start getting amped up.  Peter already is.  At the bottom of this column, you’ll see why.

“I don’t do preseason games,” said one lady who overheard Ken Folk and I discussing this topic in the Blue Tangerine on Saturday.  Without a word of a lie, she was breastfeeding her infant at the time.  I can’t make this stuff up.

You don’t do preseason???  When did that start around here??  I thought we were the “Green Bay Packers of the CFL”?

The Green Bay Packers get 50,000 fans FOR A SCRIMMAGE!  And their city is half the size of ours.

Over the weekend, I received notes from people across the league wondering what the heck is going on in Saskatchewan.  Why are so few people buying tickets?  Right now, no one has an answer.

The moniker “World’s Best Fans” has rightfully come into question.  I suppose you can’t be on top forever.

CKRM football host Michael Ball surmised that perhaps the Rider Nation has become “football snobs” on the postgame show.  Maybe we need a dome to keep these people dry, warm and happy?

2 – POSTGAME ANALYSIS:  The Roughriders finished 1-1 in the preseason just like they did in 2013.  Friday’s game was a fun one in the old ball park as the Riders went up 14-2 by halftime but then trailed 16-14 late and the crowd, albeit small, made a lot of noise to help rally their team back.  Unfortunately, our back-ups couldn’t overtake their back-ups in the dying minutes.  Here are the postgame comments from CKRM football analyst Carm Carteri.

“It was a tale of two halves,” Carm said on the postgame show.  “When Darian Durant and his offense were going in that first half, the Riders led 14-2 at halftime.  It was the second half where the Edmonton Eskimos, with their back-up quarterback Matt Nichols, who went 8/11 for 155 yards, engineered two touchdown drives to win them this game.  The Eskimos did it in the second half when the Riders couldn’t get anything going on offense.

“That’s too bad because there were a lot of opportunities for receivers to step up but a couple of drops hurt the third- and fourth-string quarterbacks.  They couldn’t get anything going so it was a disappointing night from that perspective.”

So what were the pros and cons?

“In the first half, the Riders dominated and had the game in hand,” Carteri asserted.  “The other thing was penalties.  The Edmonton Eskimos had unofficially 18 penalties and you shouldn’t be able to win a football game with that many penalties.  The Riders allowed it and the coaches will have to address it.”

And what questions were left behind?

“I’m still wondering about that Rider back-up QB job,” Carm continued.  “That’s something the coaches will have to sort out because they know what Tino had to do or didn’t have to do but I think both Doege and Weber looked pretty good.  They put the ball where it had to be but some players cut themselves.  I won’t get into who they are but people can figure that out for themselves.

“It was a disappointing second half because the crowd got into it but the guys who had opportunities to make plays, didn’t.   That’s what preseason’s all about; getting an opportunity to make a play but unfortunately for some of these guys, it will cost them a job.”

3 – CUTDOWN:  The dream died for 26 players who were cut by the Roughriders on Saturday’s CFL roster deadline day.  However on Tuesday the Riders will reveal which players have agreed to join the practice roster.

The top three players we raved about at the Florida minicamp all made the team: Chaz Schilens, Brett Swain and Ryan Smith.  However in the case of Schilens, it was likely by a whisker.  The former Raider, Jet and Lion had a respectable four catches for 48 yards against Edmonton but still looked lost pre-snap and didn’t seem to know all the plays.  Perhaps he was hyped too much?

“This is why when I hear all these names and accolades from minicamp, because when we were doing the Geroy thing, people were like, ‘Oh Schilens will replace him no problem!” and I said, ‘Oh yah, okay.  Sure’,” smirked Rider GM Brendan Taman on Friday’s CKRM pregame show.  “That’s not a shot at Chaz, it’s just that these things happen.

“When you look at last game, he probably took the least amount of reps of any receiver we had so we’ll see how he does tonight.  I still think he’s a pretty good player but he’s got to fight to compete with Swain and Ryan Smith.  There’s a lot of what-ifs still going on.”

It’s an age old tail-chaser.  I see it as my job to generate hype for the players while it’s the coaches’ job to keep them in line and their egos in check.  It’s always seemed to work well in the past.

4 – WINNING TRADITION:  The Roughriders will be good this year and will challenge to be in the 2014 Grey Cup in Vancouver but don’t expect a torrid 5-0 or 8-1 start like last year.  I sense some uneasiness entering the season as a lot of questions still have not been answered.  Still, the Riders remind me of the Team of the 2000’s, the Montreal Alouettes, who seemed to appear in the Grey Cup almost every year for a decade.  They were a machine in both the personnel department and in the coaching staff year after year plus they had one main constant; the quarterback.

“I think we’re doing things right,” head coach Corey Chamblin agreed.  “And I think we have one or two of the key pieces that if we keep moving in the right direction, I think we’ll have a chance in the end.  When you look at it, the preseason gets you ready for the season, the season gets you ready for the post-season and in the post-season, all bets are off.”

The Riders got to the top of the mountain last year and now the challenge is to stay there.  However unlike the other eight teams in the league, Saskatchewan knows how to get there.

“That’s the biggest thing,” Chamblin continued.  “We understand how to win.  We understand the length of the season.  The only thing is we have some younger guys who need to get caught up to understand how you position yourself doing the season.  The Grey Cup’s not won during the season.  It’s how you position yourself to get there.”

5 – NATIONAL/INTERNATIONAL:  I suppose it’s a sign of age but I have to ask, “Why do we have to go changing things all the time?”  This change of terminology for players from non-import/import to national/international is a pain, not to mention a mouthful for league broadcasters.

The long-time Hall of Fame voice of the Winnipeg Blue Bombers Bob Irving sent out a note on our league-wide email loop that he will NOT be using the terms National and International on Bomber broadcasts this year.  Irving maintains it’s not to prove a point, but rather to “give our audience what they have come to know”.  I responded that I will follow in line with Irving because I find it confusing as well.

No one seems to know where it came from, nor do they like it.

“It wasn’t my idea!” Rider GM Brendan Taman said on Sunday.  “I can guarantee that.  I still don’t know which one means which.  I go ‘Canadian’ and ‘Non-Canadian’.  I think it’s part of the CBA deal that they drew up.  There’s some legalities to it I guess but I’m not a fan of it, yet.  Maybe I’ll get used it.”

6 – SIMON SAYS “I’M A RIDER!”:  Geroy Simon seems to be settling into his new role with the Roughriders well, scouting the Argos-Ticats game in Toronto last Thursday before jetting to Vancouver for Friday’s Lions-Stampeders game.  I didn’t see it, but was told Geroy was wearing a Roughrider golf shirt when he was shown on TSN while it was being announced he’ll be added to the Lions’ Ring of Honour.

When Rider receiver Taj Smith learned of this, he smiled and said, “Once a Rider, always a Rider!”

What an unbelievably awkward situation.  Clearly there’s still a rift between Geroy and the B.C. Lions over the way things ended there and that’s a shame.  Lions GM Wally Buono reportedly nixed the idea of Simon returning to the Lions after it was clear he wouldn’t be back with the Riders and that, in turn, prompted Geroy to retire in Saskatchewan and take a job with the team.

However it was an incredibly classy gesture by the Lions to announce the Ring of Honour thing for Simon Friday evening given all that’s gone on.

7 – GREY CUP REMATCH:  It’s great how the CFL kicks off the regular season with a rematch of the combatants in the Grey Cup from the year before.  In this instance, it’s the Saskatchewan Roughriders and the Hamilton Tiger-Cats on Sunday at 5:00 pm at Mosaic Stadium.  If the kickoff time is a pain for you, don’t forget Monday is a statutory holiday.

The Riders will indeed have a tiger by the tail in this one because word out of Hamilton is the Ticats “mean business”.  And seriously, who doesn’t actually believe Kent Austin won’t win a Grey Cup for that franchise before he leaves in a year or two?

Listening to, and reading, his quotes from training camp in Hamilton this year takes you back to 2007 in Regina and that magical Grey Cup season.  The Riders opened that campaign with a 13-7 upset victory in Montreal in Week 1.  Nobody won in Montreal back then, but the Riders did.

Let’s ensure the Ticats don’t catch the Riders off-guard this Sunday.

Also Kent appears to have lost a lot of weight?  Perhaps he’s on Body By Vi like me.  I’m down 16 lbs in a month.


8 – FROM SHELDON WILLIAMS COLLEGIATE TO THE SUPER BOWL:  Again, let’s wake up around here.  Ticket sales are soft for Wednesday’s Jon Ryan Business Luncheon at the Ramada as part of the 2nd Annual Jon Ryan Charity Golf Classic in the Queen City.  I’ll be emcee’ing the event which will feature a Q & A with the Regina born-and-raised punter for the Super Bowl champion Seattle Seahawks.  During the Seahawks’ historic run last year, Jon was quick to point out how much support he received from this community and this is his way of giving back.  All funds raised will stay in the community.  As an added bonus, J.R. will have his Super Bowl ring on hand.  For tickets or a table, email Krysta at CKRM at krysta_k@hotmail.com.  We’ll also be broadcasting the SportsCage from the Ramada on Wednesday as well.

9 – COULD THE PENDULUM BE SWINGING THE OTHER WAY?:  Man oh man I hope we’ve hit the height of Political Correctness and the pendulum has starting swinging back towards common sense.  Last week the Mayor of Los Angeles, Eric Garcetti, created a few waves at the Kings’ Stanley Cup parade by waving a beer over his head at the podium and yelling, “This is a big f—ing day!”  Aside from a few angry comments on the Mayor’s Faceboook page, no one seemed to mind and so far he has not been forced to apologize.  Whew!  Perhaps those of us who aren’t so P.C. can finally breathe again.

10 – HOCKEY NOTES:  Hockey’s only been gone 10 days but I already miss it.  Here are some quick thoughts: Gerard Gallant is the new head coach of the Florida Panthers which not many pundits predicted … Former Spokane Chiefs coach Bill Peters has been handed the reins of the Carolina Hurricanes and I’m pulling for him in his first NHL job.  I first met the Three Hills, AB product in 1996 when he was the first-year assistant coach of Mike Babcock’s Spokane Chiefs.  He’s all business … Willie Desjardins is to be introduced as the head coach of the Vancouver Canucks this week and you can expect he’ll retain the services of assistant coach Glen Gulutzan (a holdover from the Tortorella regime).  Gulutzan, the pride of Hudson Bay, SK, installed Desjardins as the head coach of the AHL’s Texas Stars who won the Calder Cup this season.  Incidentally Desjardins is the former head coach of the Medicine Hat Tigers which is the alma mater of Canucks President Trevor Linden … Bodog.ca has installed the Chicago Blackhawks as the early favourites to win the 2015 Stanley Cup at 7/1.  Boston is 8/1 while L.A. is 9/1.

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A KING’S RANSOM:  Don’t know who Peter King is?  That’s fine.  A lot of Canadians don’t.  Even some Canadian football fans.  But he’s incredibly charged up about coming to the CFL this week and dedicated his Monday Morning Quarterback column – which is read by 8-million fans weekly – to the CFL today.  The prologue to the column was written by our good friend Marc Trestman, head coach of the Chicago Bears!  I got tingles reading it this morning.

Whoa.  I need to sit down.  “Worlds are colliding Jerry!”

Here’s the link:
http://mmqb.si.com/2014/06/23/marc-trestman-canada-week-guest-monday-morning-qb/3/

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PLEASE HELP! I DON’T ASK FOR MUCH:  Our weekly provincial television show on the Riders, In The Huddle, is in the running for a national cable TV award but we’re trailing a dastardly curling show by 2,000 votes and the voting ends in a week!  Please take the time to cast your vote today, and each day this week, here: http://www.iheartlocalcable.ca/vote/


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THAT’S ALL! TALK TO YOU TODAY FROM THE GEORGE REED GOLF CLASSIC IN THE CAGE AT 4 PM.
RP
@sportscage