DAYTONA HOMES MONDAY MORNING GOALIE

The ship is still afloat, although it’s taken some hits.  With five games left in the 2014 regular season, the Saskatchewan Roughriders are 9-4 and in a second-place tie with the Edmonton Eskimos.  These are some turbulent times.  Here are some Monday notes and some analysis as we navigate through some rough waters in the Rider Nation:

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First, a note on the above photo.  It came from the blog mailbag:

“Dear Rod,


This is the HMCS Regina returning to Esquimalt after an 8 month deployment. 


Operation Artemis and Operation Reassurance. 254 days 61,300 nautical miles traveled.


As always, Go Riders


Darren Kreuger
Victoria BC. “


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10 MONDAY RIDER AND SPORTS NOTES

1 – While many have written off this Roughrider season due to the injury to Darian Durant, the team has not.  And of course, they never will until the gun sounds on their final game, whenever that is.  But John Chick is the undisputed leader of this club right now with Durant on the sidelines and he took to social media on Friday evening to provide inspiration.

“It’s not like the sky is falling or we have to start over,” Chick wrote on Facebook, and told reporters as well.  “Sometimes you are going to get punched in the mouth. You just have to come back and get ready for the next one. We’ll just go back to work like usual. It’s a tough loss, but sometimes you need those.”


The last I checked, John’s Facebook post had 2998 “Likes” and drew 187 comments.  The power of social media!  And more importantly, the power of staying positive!!

2 – While Chick is speaking publicly, Darian Durant is not.  It’s been just over three weeks since he tore a tendon in his throwing elbow in the Banjo Bowl and so far we haven’t heard a peep.  I’m sure there’s a reason for that.

So with Durant on the sidelines, it appears the Riders will continue to go with back-ups Tino Sunseri and Seth Doege and hope one of them kickstarts this wallowing offense.  Coach Chamblin noted on the weekend they don’t even know who’s available as far as a veteran quarterbacks go.

However Kerry Joseph is available.  He’s sitting in Louisiana and would accept a call from the Roughriders.  I got a message to Joseph on Sunday about coming to Regina and his response was, “Man if it’s right and the wife and agent are on board, I would have to consider it.  It has been on my mind.  If it comes up I will listen.”

The Riders tell me they won’t be placing any calls to anyone any time soon.  The plan is to go with who they have.  “For now”.

The name of Troy Smith keeps coming up in CFL circles in relation to the Riders.  That one makes absolutely no sense to me.  He’s been benched in Montreal for a reason.

3 – I was on Edmonton radio on Saturday and they said the Riders’ 3rd-and-1 turnover at the end of their first series was the “TSN Turning Point” in Friday’s 24-0 loss at Edmonton.  I can go along with that, although no one is blaming Corey Chamblin for the decision.

For the hockey people, do you think hitting the post early in a 0-0 game affects the rest of the contest?  Of course you do, if you believe in the mental side of the game.

However Chamblin was showing confidence in his unit and he would’ve been criticized if they’d punted.  That’s the definition of “Damned if you do and damned if you don’t.”  He went for it and it didn’t pay off.  I’m sure he’d do it again.  Again, they didn’t execute.

4 – It was shocking to learn the Riders hadn’t been shutout in 28 years prior to Friday.  I mean, they’ve had some really bad or mediocre teams in the 1990’s and 2000’s but I guess they always managed to salvage a field goal or even a rouge.  The blanking certainly is an illustration of where the Riders’ offense is right now and there’s lots of pressure on offensive coordinator George Cortez to make things work with Durant gone.

5 – After last weekend’s Plaza of Honor induction ceremony, many asked why current Rider defensive coordinator Richie Hall isn’t in the Riders’ version of a Hall of Fame.  Heck, Richie once quizzed me why this is the case.  After all he was a perennial All-Star player and has three Grey Cup rings in Saskatchewan.  The truth is, he’s still active and the committee feels if he ever went to work for another team, it would be tough to get him back for induction weekend.  Obviously Richie will be in there, but he’s not retiring any time soon.

6 – The Burris-to-Saskatchewan rumours continue to fly despite the fact the RedBlacks and Roughriders haven’t even discussed it — internally, nor with each other.  The fact is the 1-11 RedBlacks wouldn’t even have that one victory if it wasn’t for Hank and if they were to deal him now, what message would it send to their locker room and to their fanbase?  That they’re giving up?

And for him to come to Regina makes about as much sense as Troy Smith.  For now.

7 – It was a huge weekend for the Regina Pats who picked up a pair of divisional wins in Moose Jaw and Prince Albert.  The players scooped up the puck Friday evening in Moose Jaw and tossed it to coach John Paddock who collected his first WHL win.  Saturday’s game in P.A. was the first time this season rookie phenom Sam Steel was held off the scoresheet but he’s still on pace for a 72-point season.  The Pats are off until Saturday when they host the P.A. Raiders.

Steel is generating enough publicity in town that some are suggesting he start at quarterback for the Riders Friday night against Calgary.

It was odd though, at the Pats’ home-opener, to hear them using the exact same music for intros and goals as they have for the past several years.  I thought there would be a major shakeup in that area with new ownership.

Meanwhile in Edmonton the Oilers are taking an online poll so fans can choose their next goal song.  They’ve been using Pitbull’s “Don’t Stop The Party” but are looking for a change.  So far 2000 people have voted.

8 – Very tough loss for the University of Regina Rams on Saturday as they were 2:00 away from a clutch victory over the rival U of S Huskies in the rain at Mosaic Stadium.  Football folks are still talking about Jared Janotta’s costly drop in the endzone near the end of the game.  It’s been a tough 1-3 start for the Rams and they know it should be better.  It was a tough football weekend around here with the Riders, Rams and Thunder all coming up on the losing end.

9 – Watched the Chicago-Green Bay game on Sunday and the commentators were highly complimentary of Bears coach Marc Trestman and they gave a huge plug to the Canadian Football League as well.  They even showed a photo of Trestman with the Grey Cup.  What great publicity for our league!  Unfortunately the Bears couldn’t maintain their solid start and wound up being thumped by the Green Bay Packers at Soldier Field.

Don’t miss Monday Night Football at the Press Box Sports Bar featuring New England at Kansas City.  Kickoff is at 6:30 which gives you time to listen to the SportsCage, then tune in for the game!  The feature Monday evening is a spectacular rib dinner for $9.99 and you’ll have a chance to win a jersey from one of the teams.

10 – Very much getting into this new series “Gotham” which debuted last Monday.  Batman was always my favourite superhero and this new drama tells the story right from the very beginning.  It looks like it’s going to be one of those shows you’d better set the PVR for if you can’t catch it live.

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THAT’S ALL! TRY TO SURVIVE DOWN WEEK
RP
@sportscage