YOUR MORTGAGE NOW: GREY CUP ETCH’S & O’S

BY: Gary Etcheverry
For www.yourmortgagenow.ca

ISN’T A YARD THREE FEET “MR. LUBE-guy?”…

Moments before GreyCup 101 began on Sunday, I was eMailed a video with the semi-urgent directive to view before kickoff:  http://bit.ly/P-seed (which has since been uploaded to YouTube here — only five-seconds in length).

Since I learned the video features one of the most important people in my life, I found myself watching it during every commercial break through the game.  Most of the times twice per.

But that doesn’t mean we missed the TSN colour analyst possibly moonlighting.  Yes,  during one of those commercial breaks — maybe more — we saw that Mr. Lube/why don’t you “Turn Me Loose?” guy in the ad.  (http://bit.ly/MrLubeTML)

You know, the one in the alpha-male muscle car, with the fuzzy dice hanging from around the rear-view mirror, chauffeuring-around a disinterested, embarrassed woman?   He was singing enthusiastically, wearing a 1980’s period  Suit or  was it 1970’s?

Anyway, on his day job he and his broadcast partner had the honour of announcing Grey Cup 2013 for TSN.  (We much prefer Rod & Carm, 620 CKRM!)

Then on Monday we caught the duo’s two-minute recap of the game, where this “Mr. Lube-guy,” via left-field, found a way to work in that the Rider defence, in the 2009 and 2010 Grey Cup games, gave up more than 400-yards of offence in each of those contests against the Montreal Alouettes.  It was his way of praising, by contrast, Saskatchewan’s defensive performance against the Tiger-Cats on Sunday night.

(According to CFL.ca, 409-yards for Montreal’s offence, 384 for Saskatchewan’s in the 2009 Grey Cup and in Grey Cup 2010, 435 total offensive yards for the Als versus 298 for the Riders.)

Huh???  It’s 2013, no?

Then it dawned on us:  At the beginning of the ad, after popping a cassette tape into the deck in the dash of his Pontiac, “Mr. Lube-guy” says “Some people say I’m stuck in the past, but I’m just keepin’ the good times rollin’…”  Then we think it began to make some sense (maybe it never will).

You see, following a 24-23 victory in Calgary over the Stamps in Week 5 of the 2009 season, we called to “Mr.Lube-guy’s” attention some errors and omissions he and his parter had made in the telecast of that Saskatchewan game.  The discussion occurred more than an hour before the following Rider game, near the field in BC Place in Vancouver.

What we’ve learned about these critics — from a coach’s perspective, of course — is that they don’t much mind criticizing or second-guessing the craft of players or especially coaches.  But, that being said, they don’t take kindly to having their own work evaluated.

And they like even less letting facts get in the way of their narrative.

All seriousness aside, we here in this neck-of-the-woods believe that it’s an awesome responsibility to educate the public about the basics of the great game of football.  And if you’ve spent much time at all with us here this season you’ve read one of our cornerstone principles: “All yards are three feet, but in football, all yards are not equal.”  Thus the fallacy of most yards-based statistics.

So stay tuned below, and we’ll try to present the simple breakdown of the game that was Grey Cup 2013, where the Saskatchewan Roughriders pile-drove the Hamilton Tiger-Cats, earning the fourth CFL Championship for the Riders in more than 100-years!  A most incredible accomplishment.

We may even entertain some of “Mr. Lube-guy’s” misguided points.

GREY CUP 101


HAMILTON 23 AT SASKATCHEWAY 45

Ironic that this was Grey Cup 101 in that it was a basic aspirin-bottle kicking, as in spit-kick 101.  You know: entry level.

But in an entry level university course, a solid foundation in the subject matter is vital.  So (see above) “Mr. Lube-guy” may want you to know that the Riders out-gained Hamilton 497-to-284.  You may say, however, “yes but isn’t it fairly common for the losing team to out-gain the winner?”  Yes, fairly common (20-to-30%).

Let’s make it more simple:  Saskatchewan scored six (6) offensive touchdowns in comparison to Hamilton’s two!

With the minor exception of Rider QB Darian Durant showing glimpses of his old, cavalier ways while handling the ball (3-fumbles, 1-lost), this was a superior performance by the entire Saskatchewan organization — led now definitely and defiantly by Durant — over an outmatched Hamilton club.

The Tiger-Cats played like they had no clue what they were getting into.  Maybe there was, but it didn’t seem like there were 1,000-folks backing Hamilton’s side, amongst the 45,000-plus in attendance for the last Grey Cup ever on Taylor field.

And keep in mind, raucous fans affect adversely opposing offences.  Defence doesn’t have the luxury of using the crowd as an excuse.

Too much!

Too much running game. (Kory Sheets now holds the all-time Grey Cup rushing record of 197-yards on 20 carries, with a long of 39-yards.  It came on an improbable fumble by Durant early in the contest that confirmed that all the stars had lined up for this seemingly all-star Rider team.  Take it away and Sheets still averaged 8-yards per carry!  He was also the MVP of #101GC.)

Too much passing game.  (Durant was a very efficient 17 of 24 for 245-yards, 3-TD’s and no INT’s;  Weston Dressler led all Sask receivers with 5-catches for 81-yards and a major;  Chris Getzlaf — voted Most Outstanding Canadian — and Geroy Simon both had 3-catches.  Getzlaf for 78-yards, and Simon compiled 67-yards, scoring his first- and second-Grey Cup TD’s in his illustrious career!  Durant also connected with five other receivers.)

Too much special teams.

And definitely too much defence.  There’s an old school premise that you make an opponent one-dimensional.  Sometimes the opposing coach does it for you.  And Hamilton’s Kent Austin is just that opponent.

Philosophically he doesn’t believe in the running game.  Not by what he says, but by what he does (or doesn’t do).  He was the one in 2005 that could not find a role for RB Ricky Williams in Toronto.

He clearly states that the first thing a running back must do in the offence is to be a part of the pass-blocking scheme.

Ti-Cat rookie RB C.J. Gable had 6-carries, split evenly between the two halves, for 23-yards and one-major.

Veteran Henry Burris scored Hamilton’s only other TD on a spread-option play.  He had 2-carries for 34-yards.

The kindest thing to say about Burris’s performance is that he found no rhythm.  We have stated in this space throughout the season that Hamilton’s offence was inconsistent at best.

The Tiger-Cats were often a one-and-two offensive TD per game operation.  Only Edmonton (421) and Winnipeg (361) scored fewer points than Hamilton’s 453 this (regular) season.

But before we repeat along these lines what we’ve consistently been saying about Hamilton this season, let’s let someone from the media make his case.

Self-described semi-retired sports writer Darrell Davis, a member of the Canadian Football Hall of Fame, is an icon in these parts (he most definitely is to us here).  He has been very involved — and continues to be involved — with the Football Reporters of Canada.

On the halftime show of #101GC, CKRM, the Winnipeg Sun’s Kirk Penton was a guest.  Penton was named the Football Reporters of Canada’s “Reporter of the Year” at its annual Grey Cup breakfast earlier that same day.

Here’s what Penton said at the half:  “It’s looking like that July 21st game again (37-0 Riders at Mozaic).  It’s just complete and total dominance”.  … It’s what we thought.  I got to see the East Division a lot this year.  I was saying it all week:  Hamilton was pretty lucky to be here.  They were the last team standing in a bad East Division.  And I’m sticking to that, and it’s kinda being verified tonight.”  (Isn’t it fun quoting the media?)

Hamilton was 2-1 this regular season versus both Montreal and Toronto.  It was 4-0 against the Blue Bombers.  Then the Tiger-Cats added playoff victories against the Als and Argos, earning them a spot in Regina in GC 101.

But in its eight games against West Division opponents, Hamilton needed a no-time-on-the-clock miss by Edmonton’s FG kicker to gain a split (1-1) against the Eskimos. It split (1-1) with the Lions, and were swept (2-0) by the Stamps…

And the Tiger-Cats were swept emphatically by the Riders.  When mostly everyone was talking about “Sunday’s Grey Cup edition of the Tabbies was not like the early season version (both games were in July),” we here were saying they were still mostly lucky.

Now — to be fair — in spite of how much weaker we believe the CFL has become in the past 11-months, has Hamilton improved?  ABSOLUTELY!

Has Kent Austin improved as a head coach since winning the 2007 Grey Cup in T.O. for the Riders?  One would assume.  We don’t want to “rain on his parade.”  It’s not his fault that Montreal is a shadow of its former self.  Or that Winnipeg has gone in the wrong direction since its 2011 Grey Cup appearance in Vancouver.

However, defence is the number one issue in Steel Town.  And other teams in the league should consider this;  it’s where possibly what’s-his-name? “Mr. Lube-guy” comes in:

In the interest of understanding the game, we’ve tried to emphasize the importance of touchdowns.  Over-simplified:  when your team has the ball score ’em, and when playing defence try to keep the opponent out of the end zone.

To dismiss Saskatchewan’s defensive contributions in the 2009 and 2010 Grey Cup games, he overstated the yards gained by Montreal’s offence in those two games.  But “Mr. Lube-guy,” know how many TOTAL TD’s were scored in BOTH of those Grey Cups?  Nine.

Five by Montreal’s offence, four by Saskatchewan’s.  That’s in TWO Championship Games!

And in Grey Cup 101 on Sunday (alone)?  EIGHT!  Six by the Darian Durant, George Cortez, Kory Sheets, Chris Best, et al. scheme.  A scheme that figuratively posed questions to the Ti-Cat defence that it had no answers to.

Surprise?  No.  The only surprise in this one was the snowmobiles jumping back up high behind Hedley!  Who saw that coming?

Only Edmonton’s (50) and Winnipeg’s (51) defences yielded more TD’s than Hamilton’s 49.  And here’s the problem:  Orlando Steinhauer, a smart, experienced football player; a respected opponent, has not been coaching football for very long.  He may be the greatest coach in CFL history someday.  Just not this day.

Let’s be as balanced as we can be:  Saskatchewan had its way — in every way — with Hamilton’s defence.

Here’s a life statement for You “Mr. Lube-guy,” applicable well beyond the football business:  if you think a PRO is expensive, wait until the day you find out how much inexperience or lack of qualifications costs…

And yes, the collaboration of head coach Corey Chamblin, and defensive coordinator Richie Hall (the only man on the planet that has earned three of the four Grey Cup rings Saskatchewan has won in its history),…  AND Rider NATION…  was way too much for the Hamilton offensive to handle.  And don’t forget John Chick’s performance either: epic!

This was a once-in-a-lifetime experience to be celebrated by Rider fans all around the world.  And especially by all the folks that were there on that magical Sunday last.

Like she said:  “GO-RIDERS-GO!” For ever-&-ever…

(Follow Gary Etcheverry on Twitter at @coachETCH)