Go East Young Man!

The Hamilton TigerCats, BC Lions and Montreal Alouettes will all be cleaning out their lockers this week as their seasons are over. This time last year my Saskatchewan Roughriders were doing the same...the last couple of years for that matter. Not this year! With the deciding factor being the loss to the Edmonton Eskimos in Week 20 Chris Jones and crew are heading to Ottawa to invade the Eastern Division.


A lot of sports media enjoy the topic of the Roughriders quarterback tandem of Kevin Glenn and Brandon Bridge or maybe they just can't wrap their minds around the concept. Who should Jones start? Jones names Glenn starter. How short of a leash should Jones give Glenn? Kevin still starts the game. I don't understand why this discussion keeps going on in spite of what's happened this last half of the season. Against the Alouettes, Jones played Glenn, Bridge and Adams Jr. What I think it comes down to is that Kevin Glenn has never lead a team and won a Grey Cup. He's been close (Blue Bombers in 2007) but because of never winning he doesn't get the respect and praise that others do. I also think this is why Jones is adamant about naming him starter every week. For one thing, it shuts up the talkers and debaters but for another, when the Riders make it (and I bel13ve they will) Kevin Glenn will be the starting quarterback who gets his name on the Grey Cup. Finally. I love the mentor that Kevin Glenn is; I love his comradery with fellow team mates and perhaps Kevin Glenn is the glue that keeps the Roughriders together.


The topic I don't hear discussed much is Chris Jones himself. People and fans have an obvious dislike for the man. They hollered for his head through most of last year and the start of the 2017 season as well...until the Riders started winning. I remember one of the Piffles Podcast members putting out a scathing blog just before they started winning. Where is the love now that the Roughriders are 10 - 8? *crickets* I'll tell you what the pundits do enjoy chatting about though. Why does Jones wear all black? Why won't Jones wear Rider colours? Why won't Jones wear a jacket? Why won't Jones wear a poppy? What would they do if they found out he lives at a hotel? GASP! This is all they've got to complain about now in November. I honestly could not care less about how Jones dresses on the sidelines as long as he is dressed. I care about how he coaches the team I am passionate about. I care that the players love him. I care that we win.


Canada's Team is off to the nations capital to play the Redblacks for the first time in post season since 1976. Let's all give a collective aRg as we think of Tony Gabriel together. *wince* Okay, so I was only 4 years old and don't recall anything about the match up at all except for The Catch. That might seem like ancient history so let's move on to present day. The Roughriders have played IN the home of the Ottawa Redblacks 4 times since they re-entered the CFL.  The Roughriders are 3-1 against them.  The last game in Regina the Redblacks  were victorious by 1 point while on the Riders Eastern road trip the Riders were victors by 1 point.  But let's talk about that Eastern swing...  The Roughriders played in Ottawa and got the W then stayed out east to play the Toronto aRgonauts where they also got the win.  Since this play off run could be a redo of that road trip the Saskatchewan Roughriders could possibly stay East for 21 days.


So my theory in my previous blog was incorrect. I have a new idea! If the Riders were to win the East (which I agree is likely a tall order) and the Blue Bombers (also a tall order with Matt Nichols injured) were to win the West we could see a scenario such as a Labour Day Classic Grey Cup. How crazy would that be?  If Kevin Glenn lead the Roughriders to a victory over the Blue Bombers in the Grey Cup TEN years after they lost because Glenn was injured (they played Ryan Dinwiddie) Blue Bomber fans would go berserk.


I like it. :)


There's nothing Rider fans love more than tying the present to the past with stats and trivia. I love to pull out things that happened on previous teams and seasons to try to predict how this season will end. The Roughriders used quarterback tandems in 1983 with Barnes & Hufnagel and more successfully in 1989 with another set of 5 & 16 numbers aka Austin and Burgess.  It would only seem fitting that the 2017 combo of #5 Kevin Glenn and #16 Brandon Bridge would provide us with some sort of karma. In that same way one should note that the Riders lost the final games of the season in the years 1989, 2007 and 2013 and went on to win the Grey Cup. Does it mean anything now? We just have to wait and see.


Hasn't this season gone by quickly? The funny thing is I still have a line on my right leg from the wicked sun burn I received at Training Camp the first time I attended back in June. In June all the hype was about Vince Young. I remember Chad Owens running back a punt and the crowd reacting at the scrimmage game. I recall Duron Carter's wide happy smile making me smile too. Aren't we blessed to have one more game to look forward to? The Eastern Semi-Final starts at noon Sunday. Go Riders!