Week 14 is in the books and my team the Saskatchewan Roughriders are on bye week. * sigh * It's been reported that some members of the team are staying around Regina and the province instead of going home. While I think it's important that they all rest up and heal up for the remainder of the season, the fan in me kind of loves it. It harkens back to when we heard Darian Durant stayed back on a bye week. I digress though. You aren't here to read my rambling on about days gone bye.
No Garfunkel this week.
Group A - Winnipeg Blue Bombers, Calgary Stampeders, Saskatchewan Roughriders
Group B - Hamilton TigerCats, Montreal Alouettes, Edmonton Eskimos
Group C - Toronto Argonauts, BC Lions, Ottawa Redblacks
If I did have a doodle, Group A would most definitely be a Big Mac or Whopper or in Winnipeg's case, the Walby Burger. The Winnipeg Blue Bombers were on bye week so I didn't feel like they deserved to be moved. The Calgary Stampeders just always find a way to win. No one calls their wins lucky or undeserving. I did not see this game but as I've been told it was a close one as was the Roughrider Alouettes game at Mosaic Stadium...which is where I was Saturday. There was no rain delay. Once again the Riders won on the leg of kicker Brett Lauther but come Monday morning that's not what fans are caring about. No because in Rider Nation if the Riders win you have to complain about something. I got my drum taken away. Curmudgeons behind me won't let me stand. Or how about that A&W commercial. Guys, WE WON THE GAME. Let's talk about how the secondary needs to tighten up. Let's talk about the moxy Cody Fajardo shows on and off the field. Let's talk about the camaraderie the team has with coach Craig Dickenson. How about how amazing it was to honour the 1989 Grey Cup team. But no...
Never mind that in 2018 there were several A&W social media spots with actual Roughrider players (Duron Carter one of them) trying the Beyond Meat burger. A&W has been a game day sponsor for a long time. There are no players in the actual commercial and just fans who happen to be wearing the logo. Look - eat beef or don't. We can make choices.
Group B - Where's the Beef? Who remembers that commercial from the 80's? Hamilton and Montreal have the recipe but don't have the secret sauce to pull out the wins when it counts. No one can blame the rain delay on this one! I'm looking at you Al's fans! I also have to say I really like Vernon Adams Jr. Their offence is doing great things and getting Chris Williams on the roster was brilliant. It's really hard to dislike them. Anyone else see flashes of Darian Durant in Adams Jr? The Eskimos were on bye week. What will we see from their offence? I know us Rider fans are looking down the schedule and wondering how that back to back series to finish the season will turn out.
It's Beyond Belief that Toronto got their second win only last week and the Lions did this week as they thrashed the Ottawa Redblacks. Ottawa fans are left wondering what's going on and how far they've fallen from Grey Cup contender in 2018 to bottom of the heap in 2019. This is my insight - management is scared of the future and success and of what's happened to the team in the past. In an attempt to keep the team viable the don't pay large contracts and either don't re-sign players or let them go in free agency. Where's Ernest Jackson? That leaves them with no heart, no veteran presence and as we see also no wins. It's like prevent defence except in this case it's preventing them from having a successful season at all. I feel for you Redblacks fans. Us Rider fans remember 2015 and Tino Time all too well. Let's hope some changes happen quickly and you can be redeemed for the rest of the season.
So is Rider bye week over yet?
the real team will be back when lambert and hughes are playing.
ReplyDelete