The Elephant In The Room

There's a subject posted around social media, fan forums and Facebook groups.  Rider Nation is easy to get emotional and irrational on the subject and there are a very wide difference in opinions and views.  It's okay, that's how we are and that's what makes us one of the most passionate fan bases in the CFL.  The comments range on a scale of "Jones got rid of our favourite players" to "Jones is a genius."  This one subject though gets debated in circles every week and Week 13 in the CFL was no different.

What do you think of Darian Durant now.

Before you click away you need to know a few things about me. I LOVED Darian Durant.  I got in family arguments defending him.  I got in social media arguments defending him. I met the man several times at training camp and other engagements. I did this for his entire career with the Saskatchewan Roughriders. Stu Gooden had me gaze lovingly at Doubles picture in last years CTV story.  I was All In.  But let me also tell you this - It was Exhausting.

There is an idea out there that when Rider fans or CFL fans place criticism on a player that they don't respect that player.  That is simply not true.  Darian Durant was a true warrior and leader for the Roughriders through several seasons and no one else but him carried the team on his back like he did in 2013. I appreciate everything he did and bringing us that Grey Cup in our home stadium was momentous.  The fact is - Darian Durant is no longer a Saskatchewan Roughrider.  He made the decision to not be a part of this team and we can debate the how's and why's until the cows come home but it doesn't change that fact that in the end DD did not choose us.  He chose money, his own ego and other emotions over loyalty to being a Roughrider.  That's my bottom line. If anyone else did that, that player would be ridiculed and haunted by Rider Nation the rest of his career.  Instead, members of Rider Nation still have him on that pedestal and will choose to cheer for him over our entire team. I don't get it.

My comment moments after Durant was traded January 13th.

Watching Darian Durant as a Montreal Alouette is odd. First of all given what transpired in the 2009 Grey Cup one has to wonder how exactly one arrives at the desire to make that transition. I never wished ill on Durant but my opinion of him has certainly changed.  In Week 1, I saw the man who I had idolized taunt and jeer my Head Coach, the man who apparently didn't like Darian Durant because he 'wasn't his guy.'  Could it be that it was Durant himself who didn't like Jones?  Could it be that Jones didn't coddle Durant like he was used to and expected him to be able to do his job?  Could it be that Jones wanted to build a team so that our QB no matter who that was had support and protection around him instead of having an aging, injury prone, highly paid player weighing the team down and holding them back?  In that instance when Durant shouted "How do you like me now" in French I lost all respect for the person and player who I thought he was and it made me question if he ever was the person I had built him up to be in my own mind. 

Meanwhile, Kevin Glenn is on his third stint as a Roughrider. When Glenn was a Rider in 2015 I had thought prior to Durant's injury that we'd end up with a QB controversy on our hands.  That didn't happen and KG ended up being traded away.  This season KG stepped in as starting quarterback. He didn't try to carry the team.  Instead I see him as part of the team.  Kevin Glenn is always with team members, providing support, friendship, brotherhood and leading the celebration conga line.  He's been having a terrific year and even while sidelined he is being the example and mentoring Brandon Bridge, Vernon Adams Jr and Marquise Williams.  All of these quarterbacks for what Montreal is paying Darian Durant.

The Saskatchewan Roughriders have evolved.  I've often asked that Riders fans get on board and learn players names because they are future legends.  How about that receiving corps? How about that secondary? How about that offensive line? How about that defense?  There are so many names to know!  It's looking more and more like the Chris Jones regime not only knows what they're doing in rebuilding/building our beloved team but always had a plan.  The team is 6-5. The team is above .500 for the first time since 2015.

The Montreal Alouettes are in disarray.  Kavis Reed is the General Manager for a reason that is not known to me since he has no experience in that area at all.  Last week the head coach Jacques Chapdelaine and defensive coordinator Noel Thorpe were fired. Kavis named himself HC.  Anthony Calvillo was added to the CFL Hall of Fame Friday but was named offensive coordinator in the Alouettes shuffle.  The play calls are baffling.  They have good players who they don't seem to implement like RB Sutton or WR Jackson.  Even Nik Lewis seems to be absent since breaking the all time reception record.  Then Darian Durant got pulled in last weekends game for back up Drew Willy.  The Montreal Alouettes are 3-9.

This week everyone is wondering what's wrong with Darian Durant.  They've brought in Ken Miller to help out and I sincerely hope he can.  It feels to me that the Alouettes have tried to recreate a previous Roughrider team and if we can learn from history you simply cannot hold on to the past.  Players change and age and become injured.  You can't go back again.  Fans and media are questioning if this is the end for Durant.  I searched his name on social media and waded through the vitriol of "retire" comments.  There's no way I'm going to shoot a man while he's down but I can't help but put the question out there...

"Darian...how do you like US now?"

Unfortunately, I cannot be at the October 27th rematch between the Roughriders and Alouettes at incredible Mosaic Stadium but I will be at this Sunday's game where we host the Calgary Stampeders.  Bo Levi Mitchell is already trying to stir things up and I wish he'd just keep his mouth closed.  Those things have a way of biting you in the butt.  This will be a huge test for our Riders who sustained 9 injuries in the win against the Hamilton TigerCats.  Can we emerge victorious? I guess that's why we play the games.

I'll be there Sunday in my section 126 seat with cowbell in hand.  I am first and foremost a fan of the team who's name is across the front of my jersey not the back. A Saskatchewan Roughriders fan I remain.

Go Riders!

Vert et Blanc

Coming up with a new and fresh blog every week is hard. It's certainly complicates things when your team is struggling or are win-less in the Riders case. I've maintained the theory that I'm not about stats because you can get that information from anywhere and everywhere else. I promise you that I will always have a unique view and often the female fan view of the game of football and this Saskatchewan Roughrider community owned team that I love and support with all my heart.

The only thing fans and media seem to be discussing is the Randy Richards hit on the Stampeders Tim Brown. I was holding down seat 8 in section 14 at that football game. What a unfortunate chain of events. However, from my seat and vantage point not only did I not know what had transpired but no one around me did either. We cheered as soon as we saw the stop. We had no idea who the player was. All we saw was Brown laying on the field. There was no replay shown on the Sasktel Maxtron. Then the refs announced the penalty and ejection and the wrong player number. THE FANS HAD NO IDEA WHAT HAPPENED. When Randy Richards was escorted from the bench I stood and cheered again. I don't feel bad and I don't care what others think of me. Know this - I would never cheer if I knew someone was injured.  We knew at that point Tim Brown was not injured despite his dramatics on the field. I felt what happened in front of my eyes did not deserve anyone to be booted from the game. Richards was asked to do a job and he did it.

I know, what if that hit had been on a Rider player like Dressler? First, because I've seen too many missed calls on Roughrider players, I highly doubt there would have been a penalty resulting in an ejection. Secondly, Dressler would never have layed splayed out on the ground milking it for all its worth. No, he would have sprung up right away because that is the beast of a player that he is.

Then we find out Richards was fined the maximum penalty in a CFL hearing! The maximum penalty being half a game cheque?  

OH COME ON!

Shockingly, I agree with Arash Madani on Thursday's Sportscage. There is no consistency in the officiating in the CFL. I feel like CFL football fans have been shouting this from the rooftops forever. When will they listen to us?

Shrugs.

All we wanted was a pure definition of pass interference. The CFL's answer was to give us reviewable calls in 2014 while in 2015 they come up with a new contact rule. Did it make the referee’s any better? No. It gave them a way out instead because now they can just throw a flag without even really knowing if an offence was made. Sure teams have adjusted but it hasn't made the officials any more accountable. How ridiculous is it that every time you see a big play you have to look around to see if flags were thrown? It doesn't make CFL games a good product and it surely doesn't make it marketable in the US.

Have you seen the new goal posts in the NFL, by the way? Some of our kickers would never stand a chance making it through those narrow uprights. Yikes.

I'm not much of an NFL watcher at all. Collage football hasn't started yet. I tend to follow the Oregon Ducks and Boise State because I have family who live there. So...with this lull in activity...I started watching Friday Night Lights. I never watched it on TV, mostly because of my teaching lifestyle.....I miss a lot because of it. Here's what I have to say – I'm addicted and by the end of episode one I was in tears. If you watched it years ago, I'd urge you to go back and watch it again. Matt Saracen sure reminds me of Drew Willy, there is no debating Smash Williams is Kory Sheets and Buddy Garrity could sum up all of Ridernation's media sources in a car salesman nutshell.

So the Green Whites play the RedBlacks on Sunday in Ottawa. A couple weeks back Rnation was all in a tizzy over a billboard that was put up by the Roughriders organization. These billboards aren't anything new as the Riders have been putting them up in CFL cities for years but those in the Rouge Noir were sure offended. Meh. These days people are offended by pretty much anything and everything if you try hard enough to be. What I'm counting on in Sunday's match up is a good penalty free stupid mistake free Rider team and Bad Hank showing up.

HEEEEEEENNNNRRRYYYYYYYYYY.

It never gets old.

I never count this team out unlike some members of the media. It may seem I have a hate on for some of them but I really don't. I just want them to be better. Instead of using their voice, talent & position to condemn a team, why not use them to boost morale?! The season is not over. It won't be until the final whistle sounds on November 8^th. There's a lot of games to be played and this is the CFL where nothing is for sure and no lead is safe.

The most dangerous team is the one who has lost everything, has nothing left to risk and has the most to gain.

Clear eyes. Full hearts. Can't lose.

Ba-Bye!

Since my last blog the Roughriders have gone five and oh, top of the CFL, Drew Willy and zip.....that means five glorious green victories while losing zip, zilch, nada times.

The last time the team has achieved such a feat was in 2008 under Coach Ken Miller.  The starting quarterback was Marcus Crandell, then Stephen Jyles, and Darian Durant before the Michael Bishop experiment happened.  I vaguely recall a stat about a team going 6-0 while using 4 different starting quarterbacks.  Through several setbacks and broken legs the team ended the season 12-6.

Reminiscing about the 2008 season, makes me wonder where DJ Flick is now.  It makes me recall the famous beer tossing incident in the BC Lions game.  It also reminds me that it was the year we lost Ron Lancaster.  It also reminds me of the West Semi-Final and even though we knew we weren't going to win because of all the injuries we were hopeful and then Stu Foord scored a touchdown, tore off his helmet and let his hair flow as he ran along the sidelines.

Time travel to 2013.

Through the first five games of this season our beloved Riders seem to be able to crush any opponent.  Okay, fine, we've had relatively easy teams to play so far.  I mean, the Eskimos seem in shambles especially after the Krazy Kavis remarks and then there's Kent Austin's anger from the sidelines of the Hamilton.....er, Guelph.....er, TiCats bench.  It would seem the power is in the west.  Then I have to remind myself that we've really only played 5 games.  Five isn't very much at all.  Lot's can change, and will change through the rest of the season.  The true test is the next game against the Stampeders and then later on in September when we finally play the BC Lions.

Who makes up the schedules anyway?

The Roughriders advanced their record to 5-0 against the 1989 Grey Cup winning quarterback #5 Kent Austin with a back up quarterback #5 of Drew Willy.  How much do you love that?!

In the meantime.....is the bye week over yet?......let's revel in our success.

• Darian Durant has had an incredible start with zero interceptions. 
• We found out Drew Willy is better than capable as a back up.
• Kory Sheets has set the record for rushing for 100+ yards in 5 consecutive games for a total of 712.
• Rob Bagg is back and better than ever and might make me cry every time he gets a TD
• Weston Dressler is one tough little dude.
• It is totally awesome to see Geroy Simon strike his Superman poise in green & white.
• Rey Williams is a beast.  Thank you Kent Austin.
• John Chick makes a girls heart flutter
• Keith Shologan was drafted in 2008 and this week he became a dad.  *insert warm fuzzies here*
• Chris Getzlaf has gotten married.  Tons of congrats from Rider Nation.
• Finally, Dan Clark.

The Story So Far

I don't think I really have to inform any Rider fan out there that the team is currently the only team in the CFL who remains undefeated.  I'm pretty sure everyone knows the Roughriders are 3-0.  Did you know that no CFL player has started the season with as many yards as Kory Sheets?

See?

You knew it already.

Rod Pederson said Rider Nation is swinging from chandeliers.  This might be the one!

In the first game of the season we played the Edmonton Eskimo's.  The score was 39-18.  Lot's of people said that, well, the Eskimo's aren't a very good team and we'd have to wait and find out how the Riders play against a more worthy opponent.  The high/low-light of this game was what I saw as an interfering Greg Marshall chirping at Dwayne Anderson and then saw DA get all fired up crazy and got himself a few penalties.  It also caused a bit of a controversy because tons of fans were split on whether he should even remain on the team.  Now, two games later.....meh, DA is an okay guy *if* he doesn't do it again.  Then it turns out the real crazy is the Eskimo's coach, "Krazy" Kavis Reed who could barely contain himself after their most recent loss.  My own personal opinion is.....his counting mistake caused us a Grey Cup even though I can't prove it.  His contract was just extended but how could you possibly have respect for a raving lunatic of a coach?  Edmonton is indeed in trouble.  THERE HAS TO BE CONSEQUENCES!!!

Moving on to week two and we played the Calgary Stampeders or the Stumps as I've heard a few refer to them as.  I felt a little bit bad for them because they had that horrific storm and severe flooding.....but not bad enough to let them win.  The Stamps were a more worthy opponent but we still beat them 36-21.  Of course we had Skater Dude aka Rod Black for a commentator.  Throughout the almost the entire first half all we heard was how much in control Drew Tate was and how calm he was and blah blah blah.  I shouldn't expect any less from Skater Dude.  I really thought "Kernal" Jock Sanders was going to break loose and return a punt for a touchdown.  I think he was just one tackle away.....and it could still happen in any game.  Getzlaf seemed to recover from the dropsies which plagued him last year but ohmygawd how awesome was the play calling?!  I was singing George Cortez's praises after this game.  What a catch he was! 

On to the most recent game against the defending 2012 Grey Cup champs, the Toronto Argonauts.  You know, I googled argonaut before because I had absolutely no idea what it was.  If there was ever a case for REDBLACKS, this might be it.  No confusion as to what that name means.  But I digress.....  We beat them!  39-28 was the score. I'm not a huge stats person but who can ignore Darian Durant's performance this year?!  He's thrown 8 touchdown passes already with ZERO interceptions (unless you count that one that got called back).  This is a huge improvement on previous seasons.  The witty Rob Vanstone told me that his previous season best was 25 TD's and he's on pace this year for 46!  Well, that was until his 'lower body' ankle injury.  I have complete faith in our O-line.  I'm sure Drew Willy will perform just fine this week if he is called to duty.  I know Kory Sheets has faith in them too because he's keeping them fed with BonBurgers just for blocking for him.  It's working, and hey, burgers are a huge motivator, because Kory has rushed for an incredible 442 yards in just these  three games.

So where do we go from here?  This coming Sunday we meet what some people are calling the "old Riders", the Kent Austin coached, Hhheeeeennnrryyyyy Burris quarterbacked, Andy Fantuz'd Hamilton TigerCats in front of a home town crowd at Taylor Field, er Mosaic Stadium.  I don't like to make predictions, but I have a feeling Cortez has a special offensive playbook just for the occasion of meeting his ex-team.  After all, he is what I've coined The Quarterback Whisperer.

Let's make it 4-0.  Go Riders Go!