Say Something

Say Something, I'm giving up on you

I'll be the one, if you want me to

Anywhere, I would have followed you

Say something, I'm giving up on you

This seems to be the song of Ridernation after the disastrous loss to the Hamilton TigerCats on Saturday evening. Many who couldn't stand it anymore flipped over to the live Tragically Hip concert on CBC. Those who stuck around took to the radio airwaves to speak their grievances. We are all bewildered, sad and embarrassed. There's not much that can be said that hasn't already. This indeed is the deepest of down weeks.

I always try to relate football to aspects of my life. I am a piano teacher by evening and even though it sounds crazy, I often tell my students not to practise before a big performance. It can work a couple of ways... 1) You use up all your intensity practicing then the performance is a flop or 2) You discover or create new mistakes and they become your focus and 3) You should be prepared before your performance and shouldn't require the practise. I think all three of these things happened to our Riders. Of course they have to practise but we also know it wasn't going well because Jones tore a strip off them so in an effort to be better the focus became about the mistakes and you know what? You focus on the bad and the bad happens. You draw to you what you fret about.

Shakespeare said “Expectation is the root of all heartache.” How true! When the Chris Jones hire was announced what did you think would happen? The Riders were severely broken in 2015. Did ya think he had a magic fix-the-Riders wand? Wave it and he turns 3-15 into 15-3? Jones and company's first season with the Edmonton Eskimo's ended in 6-12. Even though the Riders are 1-7 at this point in the season, 6-12 could be realistically how they end the season. I'd be okay with that purely because it's an improvement over last season. I didn't expect magic; I only expected better.

When the first massive release happened it was shocking BUT how many of those players got signed elsewhere? Brackenridge retired. There was only two Db's who signed...Macho Harris in Winnipeg and Tristan Jackson in Ottawa. That tells me that they weren't worth it to us or any other CFL team. Then the Chick/Dressler/Smith release happened. Now honestly, I could care less if they're upset. They should know by now that football is a business. Have they been lighting up the league? Only against us really and Dressler and Smith have spent a fair share of their Bomber time on the injured list. There's something to be said for how Wally Bueno builds a CFL team. Remember when he released Geroy Simon or Jason Clermont? They were on the downside of their careers. It had to happen to bring in the next guy and rebuild. There is no point to hanging on to a player or players for loyalty or personality or because he's a “fan favourite” then be stuck when he does retire or is forced to retire due to injury or because of their salary you can't afford an up and comer.

Yes, it's true, there are lot's of new Rider players names and you don't know their names or numbers. I've even heard a certain media outlet complain about not knowing who the new guys are. Well excuse me, but if I can figure it out and have since training camp (which I don't recall seeing you at) then why can't you WHEN IT'S YOUR JOB! Meanwhile, the impact of your thoughts and words are heard in Ridernation and they believe you much to the chagrin of the green and white loyalists. A revolving door of players they say but the only new player on the offense was Caleb Holley who had a feature in the Leader-post August 17^th.....FOUR days before the game. The information is out there if you look for it. Get to know these players now so you aren't stuck when they're household names. Get ahead of the curve. I always relate it to this...in 2008 you didn't know who Weston Dressler was either.

Beyond a team that played horribly in all facets, we have the officials and crazy CFL rules to deal with. I watch every CFL game every week and I see it in every game. I think it's the definition of the rules in the first place and the referee's who aren't skilled enough to make the right calls. They don't know what to call and sometimes throw a flag in case there was something or they miss something blatant. This is what the challenge was supposed to fix. Instead, coaches have found a way to bend the rules and manage to get calls for things that have no impact on the play. Every coach has done it. Then this year they came out with the “eye in the sky” which I still haven't figured out what they're supposed to do except in the last game they stopped play because the refs had spotted the ball wrong. They couldn't even spot the ball correctly! I certainly don't know how to fix anything but it seems to me at this point there is no going back. Some games have taken years off my life. It's frustrating to watch and many fans are turning away.

~ Life is not about how you survive the storm;

it's about how you dance in the rain ~

Well, in Ridernation right now it's pouring. We might be having a really hard time. Nothing is going our way.  We've been fined and taken a beating.  I still love this team and these players. You won't hear me wanting to fire coaches or make trades. I'm leaving that to the people in the know. I know in my Rider green heart that the wins will come. Then another win will happen. Maybe some more and then we'll be rolling. That's when we can dance. Let's be there for the 2016 Roughriders. They need our support not our criticism. I know I'll be in green come game day. I hope you are too.  Let's make some Farewell Memories.

A Birthday Being

Do I look older?

Well my birthday was monday and I proclaimed Sunday aka Rider Game Day "Birthday Eve".  Hubby doesn't believe Birthday Eve is a thing...he's wrong.  What can a rabid fangirl Rider fan want most for her Birthday Eve gift? A HUGE win of course.

So last week was Tino Sunseri's first start at Quarterback.  We can all agree that he appeared slow...took too much time in the pocket...and just wasn't seeing the field.  We lost that game to the Hamilton Ticats who looked to have it all together.  As you can imagine it not only added fuel to the Burris fire but "fans" were counting the Riders out of the Grey Cup chase and bailing off the bandwagon.

I remember back in 2009, a new starting quarterback named Darian Durant, spent the bye week by staying in Regina and practicing to get better.  Well, Tino took a page from the Durant playbook and had extra practices.  I liked that very much when I heard that.  Sunseri has the drive, I think.  If you read my last blog I think you'll know that I support him.  It's always important to put your faith behind developing for the future instead of trying to relive the past.

In Sunday's game, Tino came out and I immediately saw the progression over the previous week.  He looked much sharper and faster. Admittedly, it didn't look promising until Chamblin's honesty at half time.  "We're getting our asses handed to us." he said.  I've never seen him so fired up.  Obviously, it snapped everyone out of the fog they were in because the Riders came out fighting.  Terrius George recorded 4 sacks. Weston Dressler not only returned a punt for a touchdown but also scored a 60 yard touchdown that had me yelling WOW...WOW...WOW! from my frantically rocking recliner.

The Riders sure delivered a great Birthday Eve present wrapped in an overtime win.  But I'd sure love it it wasn't such a nail biting heart thumping recliner rocking ending!  And I don't know about anyone else, but when the REDBLACKS lined up for that field goal in overtime I had a Grey Cup 2009 flashback.  I was silently screaming COUNT YOUR MEN!!!!  But karma smiled on all the 13th men this time...and Peters blocked the attempt.

Wow.

The Riders now sit at 9-3 and second place in the West.  Hot on our heals are the Edmonton Eskimo's. What happens?  Well an Edmonton radio station puts together some very pathetic attempts at tongue in cheek sarcasm advertisements calling Rider fans great but "horrible human beings".  Wha?  So besides that a five year old can probably write a wittier ad - do they really think this will get extra butts in the seats at Commonwealth?  I'm not offended by the ads because I just plainly think they are dumb.  What I really don't understand is how this would entice Eskimo fans to buy tickets.  It certainly doesn't manipulate Rider fans into wanting to go.  In fact, I know of a few Rider faithful who live in the City of Chumps...er, Champions, who are seriously questioning giving up their season tickets.

I know the Riders have taken out all the billboards. "Green is the new Orange".  But isn't that a clever play on words?  It also doesn't insult anyone.  It isn't name calling.  In fact, if you have to resort to calling the fans of a team horrible, then you sound very desperate.  Come on marketers and radio ad writers...You can do a heck of a lot better than this!  And if you think Rider fans are obnoxious, it's because we demand better.

Geroy Simon promotes Coats for Kids.  John Chick helps the Diabetes Association.  There are Co-Op Game Day products with players like Durant, Dressler, & Getzlaf with proceeds going to the Childrens Hospital Foundation.  Rider fans help out with these projects.  Rider fans lead the league in supporting the CFL by buying merchandise.  If that's what you call a "horrible human being" then I'd rather be called that than anything else.

My name is Sandra.  I'm a rabid Rider fan.  And I'm a horrible human being.

66 89 07 13

From the moment the Roughriders beat the Stampeders in the western final, I was in a panic.  I couldn't sleep.  I couldn't eat.  I couldn't think about anything but football.  I think I lost 20 pounds.

I wore green all week.  In fact, I realized I could probably wear Rider gear every single day for two weeks without running out, although some of it is rather ill fitting.  Still.

I hung my 100 Years of Pride flag up at work.  I felt awkward doing that.  In 2009, I hung a Rider sign on my classroom door.  We know how that turned out.  Monday when I arrived at work the sign had been ripped off and tossed in the garbage.  I promptly retrieved it and put it back on the door.  I told people, "The Riders need us more now than ever."

Wednesday I watched the opening of Riderville streamed live on the Riderville.com website.

Thursday I started seeing pictures of the Coaches press conference.  Corey Chamblin wore a suit.  Kent Austin was wearing a track suit.  Chamblin looked like the coach of a championship team.  Austin looked like the coach of a college team.  That might sound mean, but I expected more of him.  It doesn't matter that he had to go out to the field right after and hold practice because Chamblin had to get on a bus and drive to Moose Jaw for practice.

I could not wait for the week to be finished.  In all honesty, anything that wasn't football related is a complete and utter blur.  I just felt like it was time.  It was time to get the game going.

Sunday, game day, Grey Cup day was an incredibly beautiful day.  Man oh man, I felt such regret.  Why the heck didn't I try harder to get tickets?  Oh yeah, I know there weren't hotels available and we'd have to get a dog sitter.  But man.  We should have been there.  We went to the Co-Op for groceries instead.  I bought 3 bags of Geroy Simon Super Onion & Sour Cream chips.  They were 3 for $4.98.  Secretly I hoped Geroy would be a huge factor in the game.  I hoped that maybe he'd get 3 TD's.  Little did I know that Superman had not scored a touchdown in a Grey Cup game in his career.  Wow.

I wore the same outfit I'd worn for the Western Semi and the Western Final.  My Celebration in Ridernation tank top which I had worn to Watrous and met Dwight Anderson, Macho Harris and Jock Sanders.  I wore my grey bunnyhug.  I had to wear my hair down and my watermelon earrings.  Pants didn't seem to matter....as in colour/style etc.  I try hard not to be superstitious, but I guess I am after all.

The anxiety I had all week had reached an epic state of butterflies by game time.  The TSN pregame was amazing.  I hope someone somewhere snags a video of that Saskatchewan feature because it was so amazing and heart warming that I'd love to watch it over and over again.

Finally.  It was game time.  BRING EM OUT.  BRING EM OUT.  BRING EM OUT.  The Riders skipped the formality of player introductions and rushed out onto the field sending TSN into a frenzy.  It was hilarious on tv because for once, Rod Black aka Skater Dude was silenced!  It was exhilarating to watch the players gather and dance.

The sky shots of Taylor Field were breath taking.  Seeing the Snowbirds flyby was purely amazing.

Why the heck wasn't I there?!

I don't think I actually started breathing until the 3rd quarter.  It felt like Hamilton was going to make a comeback.  They started to see something or get something working in the 3rd quarter.  Hubby said "oh don't worry we've got this."  But I'd seen it before.  Then something miraculous happened.  Everytime the Riders offence was on the field they scored.  Let's face it.  The Riders played the way we have always wanted them too.  The way we have dreamt they could.

The Roughriders broke a record for points scored in the first half of a Grey Cup game.  Kory Sheets broke the rushing record for a Grey Cup game.  Geroy Simon got his first and second touchdowns in a Grey Cup game.  Everyone got to touch the ball.  The offense was spread around.  George Cortez was freaking amazing with his play calling.

Then we won.

The Riders won their 4th Grey Cup in 103 years of the football club.  The 101st Grey Cup held right in historic Mosaic Stadium at Taylor Field.  2013.  The year of the 13th man.  Vindication.  Redemption.  What happened in 2009?  I can't remember.  It's been erased.  Once Darian Durant grasped that cup and held it over his head in celebration.....it was all true.

That.  Just.  Happened.

Bring 'Em Out

Holy Sheets, guys!  We are headed to the 101st Grey Cup!  The Roughriders in the house that Ronny and George built.  It chokes me up.  This is what we've dreamed about all our lives as Rider fans.  Making it to the big game in our very home and winning it on Taylor Field at Mosaic Stadium.

Can this get any better?

What a euphoric week.

How did we get here?  A year ago, I believe Coach Corey Chamblin, GM Brendan Tamon and President Jim Hobson planned for this.  How do you win the Grey Cup?  First you need to build a championship team and bring in players like Geroy Simon, John Chick, Ricky Foley, Dwight Anderson and so many more. Then you employ the genius offensive mastermind of George Cortez.  You hold training camp away from home, in Saskatoon aka Riderville North, where players could bond together like brothers.

Did George Cortez hold back plays?  You bet your pants he did.  I knew it all along too.  You can't show everything you've got because then all the teams know you.  You keep those plays for play offs.  That's when you pull them out of your pack pocket and make defenses jaws drop open in surprise.  You bet that's what happened when we took over and totally dominated the line of scrimmage against the Stampeders in the Western Final.  They had no idea we were coming.

Supposedly the league is criticising our players for not touching the Western Division trophy.  As elite quarterback Darian Durant said on the sidelines, "I don't want that one."  Nope we don't either!  Ridernation wants the cup!  We want the cup!

We want the cup in the name of Sir Earl Grey.  Even if he thought he was donating a hockey trophy.  The story I recall is that he heard about Sir Stanley donating a cup and he wanted to do the same thing.  Well, Sir Grey, I am so glad this happened. What a beautiful cup she is.

The Saskatchewan Roughriders are hosting the 101st Grey Cup at Mosaic Stadium.  Our home.  The visiting team?  The Hamilton Tiger Cats.  They finished second in the east and beat the defending 2012 Grey Cup champions the Toronto Argonauts to get to the cup.  The Hamilton head coach is ex-Rider and coach Kent Austin.  Kent Austin quarterbacked the Roughriders in the 1989 Grey Cup win and he coached the Riders to the 2007 Grey Cup win.  His banner hangs on our stadium.  The Hamilton quarterback is Henry Burris, also an ex-Rider, who left us when he was going to be demoted as quarterback.  There are several other ex-Riders on the TiCat team: Andy Fantuz; Luca Congi.

But hold the Grey Cup train!  Our offensive coach, quarterback whisperer, George Cortez is the Hamilton ex-head coach.  Our linebacker, although now injured, Rey Williams was dismissed in the off season.  He has a huge chip on his shoulder.  Our head coach, Corey Chamblin was a defensive coach not all that long ago with the TiCats.

This will be the last big hurrah for Taylor Field.  We are building a new stadium for 2015.  Mosaic is a wonderful old girl.  I hope she gets to party like she's never before.

There are all kinds of storylines here.

This week is going to go fast and yet drag along at the same time.  Game time is 5pm Sunday.  I plan on savoring each moment.  I plan on wearing green all week.  It's going to be crazy.  And I am ready!

BRING 'EM OUT!  BRING 'EM OUT!  WE WANT THE CUP!!  WE WANT THE CUP!!!!

Go get it boys.

Four to Go

Where has the time gone?  Not only did I neglect my blog for all of September.....the length of the Riders losing streak.....but somehow we've almost reached the end of the CFL season.  How did this happen?  I mean, it doesn't seem like all that long ago I was on summer holidays and cheering on my Riders to an epic 8-1 season.

Then something happened.  For myself, after Labour Day I headed back to work.  For the Riders, they seemed to lose their mojo.

It started with the injury to Rey Williams.  Then Dwight Anderson and Taj Smith got to have a slumber party in jail after some kind of altercation on Dewdney outside a "night club".  The bandwagon came to a screeching halt and fans were bailing off and heading to the ER with broken ankles by the numbers.  They said "I told you so" when talking about Dewdney Dwight [shamelessly coined by Fake Gainer of Twitter fame.  If you don't follow him you should.]  By the end of the week another Rider, Eron Riley was also involved in the alleged aggravated assault, which if you've seen the videos, you can't really see what the heck happened.

Here's what I know.  Dwight Anderson and Taj Smith have earned places on this team.  Dwight Anderson may play with high emotion but that edge lets him get those game sealing interceptions.  Taj Smith, who seemed very unlikely to be involved in such an event, is having a great year as we've seen him scoot down the sidelines to make explosion plays.

So, yeah, Rider Nation became disheartened and split on this whole topic. 

Then the unthinkable happened.  Kory Sheets got injured.  We didn't have an answer to the blitz.  The Oline seemed to go to pot.  Darian was blamed for everything.  One person went as far to call him out on Twitter saying he wasn't Anthony Calvillo.....who, by the way has been injured for most of the season so really a bad analogy all the way around.  Doubles was fined for his twitter response.

But then something happened.  A fire was ignited.  Kory was healthy.  Cortez got creative.  The Riders came out firing on all cylinders against the Lions and Holy Sheets! we all think they can pull this off after all.

I mean, I think they can.

I think Cortez was playing games with us all.  I think he was not showing us all those crazy plays because we've got to keep them for play offs.  I think Cortez is a genius and we just don't know it yet.  I don't think anyone will see us coming.  I believe.

I know Geroy Simon hasn't been used very much, but I think this is all a plan too.  I think we will see him used when we need it the most.  I'm calling up memories of Jason Clermont's overtime touchdown catch against the Lions in the Western Final in 2010 [I think, I am a girl after all and sports dates are a tough one for me.]  Geroy needs to learn that the Riders are a TEAM.  We like your record.  We want your record to go on.  Your team mates care about you and your token catch was very important to us all. We have your back Superman.

So here we go.  Buckle up that strap on your cape.  Get that feather headdress on.  Head to the dollar store for all the green paint they have in stock.  There's only 4 games to go and we are Grey Cup bound.

Out There at Rider Practice

This is a cross over post from my other blog Life, Donuts & the Crazy Music Lady.  If you want to read it in it's entirety please feel free as it has my entire account of the Paul McCartney concert, which, by the way, I am still reeling from.   LINK.   It was a phenomenal concert.  Up until now the best concert I'd been to was the Eagles.  The only downside was the transit set up and how it was strongly discouraged to drive and park.  Regina needs to have a look at how Saskatoon does it because I've never stood in a line up as long before as I did for the concert in Regina.

The day after the concert we went to Rider practice.

Rider practice!!!!!  We got a little lost trying to find Leibel Field but finally found it.  I have to say, Regina has the worst street signage I have ever seen and I've driven in some pretty large American cities too.   It was 32*C so we didn't stay as long as originally planned.  It was fun to watch the team practice.  It was cool to hear the 'wolf pack' howl in unison a number of times.  Weston Dressler got a beautiful catch.  I snapped a few shots before we left for lunch at the Star Italian Deli.

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.

Game Day Cookies

Everyone is talking about who got cut from the roster and how sad it is and all that stuff.  Yes, I feel bad for those guys like Eddie Russ who are great people but as we know, it is part of this crazy sport that we love.  So.....What better to soothe an achy heart than baking?  You will need a snack for game day after all.

I bought my football cookie cutters at Michael's.  I was just there on the weekend and they don't have them anymore.  But I know that you can also order them from Amazon.com or I'm sure a bunch of other online sources.

When I made these cookies, I must confess, I used the Betty Crocker mix.  I know.  I know.  Shameful.  If you have the time my Mom's Sugar Cookie recipe is much better.

Ingredients:
3 1/2 cups flour
2 tsp baking powder
1/4 tsp salt
1/2 cup butter (or margarine or shortening0
3 eggs
1 tsp vanilla

Combine all ingredients.  Form into a roll, wrap in plastic wrap and refrigerate 1 hour.

Roll out and use cookie cutters.

Bake at 350*C for approx. 8 minutes.  This recipe makes approx 5 dozen cookies.

The Betty Crocker mix makes considerably less.

I also took a short cut when it came to frosting the cookies.  Yeah.  I bought it too.  But you can get great tasting frosting in ready to decorate tubes at your local grocery store.  I like to shop at the Co-Op.....you know because of all the other game day treats like.... Geroy's Super Cream & Onion Ripple Chips.

So once you have your green and white frosting.....because why would you need any other colours? ..... you can decorate the cookies.

Mine turned out pretty great!