Writing is hard. Staying current and keeping up a blog is even harder. Doing these things during off season and CFL free agency and Superbowl is three times as hard. Oh and I also lead a busy non-football life believe it or not!
The last time I wrote the Calgary Stampeders won the Grey Cup. *spits in Corner Gas Woolerton fashion* After college football was all over the only thing left to look forward to was the Superbowl. How exciting was that? Or how depressing was that? I was behind the Seattle Seahawks all the way. They were going to win. They were poised to win. Just like us Rider fans dream of launching an epic comeback and winning in the final seconds of a game and much like those dismal comebacks we haven't launched...the hawks lost in a huge failure of a play call. What the heck was that play call about? UGH! Unbelievable! YOU HAVE THE BEST RB IN THE LEAGUE AND YOU DON'T GIVE HIM THE BALL?!
Oh man, then Ricky Foley was traded back to Toronto for Shea Emry. Wow. Ridernation was in shock. Ricky Foley was in shock. Not discounting Shea Emry, who I'm sure is a great guy and lovely Shemar Moore lookalike, but if there was ever a guy who totally loved the fans it was Foley and Ridernation completely loved him back. I was so sad to see him go. Once a Rider. Always a Rider. (except for you know who ;)
So with all that drama finally over the CFL free agency opened.
*crickets*
And nothing really happened. We all waited with wild anticipation. The Roughriders had so many big names in free agency. I'm not going to go into detail because we all watched it happen but I think one deal that got passed many and was a big score for Brendan Tamon was the signing of Alex Hall. He flew under the radar. He had been trying out for the NFL and nothing was working out for him. Hall had been with the Riders for part of a season a few years ago.
Another interesting signing was that of Kevin Glenn. I am totally on the fence about this one. I believe the Riders needed the insurance policy because we certainly didn't have one last year. It upsets me slightly about what it says for Tino Sunseri who signed an extention only a week earlier. Yet, I also think it will make training camp exciting as there will be a fight for that backup spot. Some say Glenn is the most underated QB, but it is a little weird for him to return to being a back up for the team where he was the back up for Henry Burris and left to persue that starter spot. I also wonder what the Lions are thinking in letting him go. He was their insurance policy for Lulay. It seems to leave them in an awkard spot.
One thing I loved to watch not only during free agency but always is that it almost never fails that the guys at "The New Rouge" record their podcast and then enevitably the next day or sometimes within minutes something big in the CFL happens and they've missed it. The first time it happened was when Weston Dressler returned from the NFL and it forced them to re-record the whole podcast. Being "Dressler-ed" makes me chuckle. Oh and in case you didn't know the New Rouge was previously called the Swag and Stagger Show. Obviously, I know the rouge is that extra point scored in the endzone but let's face it. I'm a girl. And to any girl of a certain age rouge is the french name for blush. The name messes me up now every time I see it. The new rouge...is it pink or red or more of a coral? But I jest. I've had many a great conversation (arguement) with the 3 swagger rouge guys and I wish them the best in their new podcast adventures.
Is it June yet? Well, no, the -40*C windchill today tells me it is indeed not. Every off season I have great plans to watch all the great football movies and read books and follow other sports and I fail horribly just like many do on their second day of new years resolutions. You know what I've done instead? I've been rewatching the entire series of Sex and the City. Perhaps I aspire to be the Carrie Bradshaw of the CFL.
Well. Ridernation, anyways.
