The first road game of the year finds the Riders in Toronto for a matinee match-up against the Toronto Argonauts. The Riders are fresh off a nail biting win over the Lions and the Argos are fresh off their first win since last Labour Day.
While the Argos, led by Kerry Joseph, looked really good last week you have to put it in perspective… it was against Hamilton. That’s like saying the Canadian hockey team looked really good against Uzbekistan. The Argos were running a very simplified offense and still dismantled the Ti-Cats’ D. I expect to see some struggles when they face a decent opponent, especially given how Toronto’s offense really stalled in the 2nd half. I wasn’t overly impressed with Toronto’s D either - even the lowly Hamilton offense seemed to move the ball pretty well on them.
For the Riders, the big question has to be O-line. We are now down 3 starters and had to fly in Matt O’Meara to man the tackle position that became vacant when Belton went down. For the record, with both Best and O’Meara starting this week we are but a miracle Nathan Hoffart return away from the 2005 Draft finally paying off for us. With the O-line a question mark, Durant will have to step up big time and fix his game 1 mistakes. We can’t expect to keep winning games if our QB can’t control the ball. In football as in life, failure to control your balls can lead to negative consequences (so I hear anyway). More emphasis on the run and working those short to medium passes (hopefully a few in Clermont’s direction) should take the pressure off of Durant.
Defensively, now that teams have some game film on our defense I don’t expect to see the massacre we saw last week. However, you know Etcheverry has more crazy stunts up his sleeve so I’m expecting consistent pressure once again. The key will be controlled rushes. The not-very-mobile Buck Pierce burnt us many times when our defenders came in uncontrolled so unless we can correct that Kerry Joseph will have a field day.
I really don’t think the Argos are as good as they looked against Hamilton. If we can contain Joseph, limit their ground game and force them to throw we will have success. Other than Arland Bruce it’s not like their passing game scares me (and he has hemorrhoids). Offense will likely once again do just enough to secure the win. So provided we figured out how to block when we are punting …
Riders by 10
Aside from the aforementioned return of Matt O’Meara, there are 2 new faces in practice this week: QB Cole Bergquist and OL Joel Bell. Bell is hard to miss at 6’7, 315 lbs. Can you imagine that mountain of a man blocking for Hugh Charles? Defenders wouldn’t be able to even see him.
We have also added a couple new faces off the field. Marcus Crandell has been permanently added to our coaching staff as an offensive assistant and Brendan Taman has been hired to replace Tony Playtor as the Director of Football Administration. While I’m glad to see Crandell stay a part of this team, I’m not so enthusiastic on the Taman move. In his current role I’m fine with Taman, we need someone to replace Playtor and handle the admin side of things during the season. However, what does scare me is the possibility of Taman eventually becoming our GM. We don’t have near enough draft picks or napkins to support his recruiting efforts.
Around the CFL…
Derick Armstrong may be on his way out of Winnipeg. He refused to play the last game after being informed he would be relegated to back-up duty. This didn’t sit well with Coach Kelly who has asked him not to attend practice while they try and trade the former all-star. Aside from his recent attitude problem there are concerns over the durability of his injured knee. In the interim, Kelly took the logical step of making an offer to Matt Dominguez whose knees are of course far more durable. Is there anyone left out there who still thinks that Kelly is sane? Dominguez turned down the offer and my sources indicate that Kelly’s other ideas include tracking down Nathan Hoffart and trading the Riders for David McKoy.
Hamilton actually made a decent personel move last week, signing former BC Lions LB Jamall Johnson. While Johnson (who garnered NFL interest over the offseason) should have a positive impact on Hamilton’s pourous defense, Hamilton doesn’t exactly have the best luck when it comes to bringing in high profile names. Given the resounding successes that Casey Printers and Kenton Keith have been for the franchise, it’s hard to get excited about Johnson’s chances.
Lastly… Former CFL QB Timmy Chang was arrested last week. Allegedly he was caught beating someone up on camera by some girl and he got mad, wrestled the camera away from her and threw it onto a nearby roof. Man, if he had displayed that kinda strength and accuracy with his throws when he was in the CFL maybe he wouldn’t be unemployed right now.
Thursday, July 9, 2009
Monday, July 6, 2009
Monday Morning Sentimonies: Turnovers Aplenty
Riders 28 – BC 24
Wow I haven’t seen that many loose balls since… I’m just gonna go ahead and not finish that sentence.
Talk about an exciting way to open the season. Admittedly it was way more exciting than it should have been but in the end we pulled out a win and that’s the most important thing.
I have to start off by giving full credit to Omarr Morgan. I’ve been harping on him for his soft coverage for a while now but man o man did he look good on Friday. That’s the Omarr we all remember from his early years with the Riders… a game changer. While I’m not quite ready to remove him from my hatred list and declare my full support (mainly because history has shown that one amazing performance by a Rider cornerback doesn’t necessarily lead to more of the same) I will say that is by far the best I’ve seen Omarr play in 2 years, so hopefully this is a sign of things to come.
Speaking of defense… wow!! We knew Etcheverry would run an aggressive defense but that was unbelievable. 9 sacks, 3 INTs and 4 forced fumbles. And if our front 7 could learn how to wrap up the number could have been even higher as they were loose in the backfield all night. Poor Buck Pierce looked like a rag doll the way he was tossed around. My favourite is when we were treated to a re-enactment of Rider history with Pierce playing the role of Dave Dickenson and Sean Lucas playing the part of Jackie Mitchell knocking him senseless… what a hit! It was almost confusing for me to see consistent pressure from our D-line, it’s been so long since I’ve seen it I almost forgot what it looked like. Stevie Baggs is money, plain and simple.
The problem is that for some odd reason our offense and punt blockers seemed to think they were in a contest with the defense for most turnovers, and it was a battle that they unfortunately won with 3 fumbles, 3 INTs, 2 blocked punts and a turnover on downs. If we could have controlled the ball even a little bit our defense would have led us to a blowout victory.
Durant was pretty much what I expected. Flashes of greatness followed by flashes of Nealon Greene. He’s inexperienced, he’ll get better. I’m glad Miller finally learned some patience with his QB but Durant has to get better at protecting the ball. The whole reason he is our starter is because he’s better at controlling the ball than Jyles. If we have to settle for a turnover prone QB I’d rather have Jyles in there because he has more big play potential. That said, I’m not writing Durant off and do believe he will turn things around.
Fortunately for Durant, he’s blessed with receivers like Weston Dressler who is picking up right where he left off last year and Andy Fantuz who’s his old reliable self. Hugh Charles needs some stickum but looked good overall. Jason Clermont was the recipient of the most cheered for 9 yard pass in recent memory. I imagine he will be featured more and more in the coming weeks (mainly because it’s not really possible to feature him any less).
Overall a great defensive performance and adequate offensive performance led to an exciting win. We’ve got a lot to improve on but it’s a far better starting point than many were predicting.
As per Rider tradition this victory came at the price of an injured starter. Belton Johnson hurt his quad and will likely miss a few weeks. This means that Jeremy O’Day is our only starter from last year who’s left. This is where new O-Line coach Bob Wylie will have to earn his pay because we’re going to have to start a lot of inexperienced guys until our vets start to heal up. Hopefully what’s left of our O-line stays healthy because we are only 1 or 2 injuries away from a world where Charles Thomas becomes a viable option.
Around the league…
- Arland Bruce was fined for his homage to Michael Jackson. While the TD celebration was stupid, it does provide us with the line of the week. When asked why he didn’t just moonwalk to honour Jackson, Bruce responded “Michael don’t do that no more.” Bruce should have just gone with plan B and dangled a baby from the goal posts.
- Jarrett Payton may have set a professional foortball record for worst miss on a convert attempt. Don’t quit your day job Jarrett.
- Montreal is going the same direction as us and BC and lining up a converted DB at linebacker. While Chip Cox is somewhat undersized for an LB his fumble return for a TD goes to show that it’s not the size of your Cox that matters, it’s how you use him.
- Winnipeg’s offense was atrocious!
- Is anyone besides Danny Maccioccia surprised that Jesse Lumsden got hurt? He’s the RB equivalent of Matt Dominguez, all the talent in the world but unable to stay healthy for an entire season. I still find it hilarious that Edmonton seriously thought that the answer to their woeful running attack was to bring in the most injury prone RB in the league. That’s like trying fix a leaky boat with an old piece of chewing gum.
Wow I haven’t seen that many loose balls since… I’m just gonna go ahead and not finish that sentence.
Talk about an exciting way to open the season. Admittedly it was way more exciting than it should have been but in the end we pulled out a win and that’s the most important thing.
I have to start off by giving full credit to Omarr Morgan. I’ve been harping on him for his soft coverage for a while now but man o man did he look good on Friday. That’s the Omarr we all remember from his early years with the Riders… a game changer. While I’m not quite ready to remove him from my hatred list and declare my full support (mainly because history has shown that one amazing performance by a Rider cornerback doesn’t necessarily lead to more of the same) I will say that is by far the best I’ve seen Omarr play in 2 years, so hopefully this is a sign of things to come.
Speaking of defense… wow!! We knew Etcheverry would run an aggressive defense but that was unbelievable. 9 sacks, 3 INTs and 4 forced fumbles. And if our front 7 could learn how to wrap up the number could have been even higher as they were loose in the backfield all night. Poor Buck Pierce looked like a rag doll the way he was tossed around. My favourite is when we were treated to a re-enactment of Rider history with Pierce playing the role of Dave Dickenson and Sean Lucas playing the part of Jackie Mitchell knocking him senseless… what a hit! It was almost confusing for me to see consistent pressure from our D-line, it’s been so long since I’ve seen it I almost forgot what it looked like. Stevie Baggs is money, plain and simple.
The problem is that for some odd reason our offense and punt blockers seemed to think they were in a contest with the defense for most turnovers, and it was a battle that they unfortunately won with 3 fumbles, 3 INTs, 2 blocked punts and a turnover on downs. If we could have controlled the ball even a little bit our defense would have led us to a blowout victory.
Durant was pretty much what I expected. Flashes of greatness followed by flashes of Nealon Greene. He’s inexperienced, he’ll get better. I’m glad Miller finally learned some patience with his QB but Durant has to get better at protecting the ball. The whole reason he is our starter is because he’s better at controlling the ball than Jyles. If we have to settle for a turnover prone QB I’d rather have Jyles in there because he has more big play potential. That said, I’m not writing Durant off and do believe he will turn things around.
Fortunately for Durant, he’s blessed with receivers like Weston Dressler who is picking up right where he left off last year and Andy Fantuz who’s his old reliable self. Hugh Charles needs some stickum but looked good overall. Jason Clermont was the recipient of the most cheered for 9 yard pass in recent memory. I imagine he will be featured more and more in the coming weeks (mainly because it’s not really possible to feature him any less).
Overall a great defensive performance and adequate offensive performance led to an exciting win. We’ve got a lot to improve on but it’s a far better starting point than many were predicting.
As per Rider tradition this victory came at the price of an injured starter. Belton Johnson hurt his quad and will likely miss a few weeks. This means that Jeremy O’Day is our only starter from last year who’s left. This is where new O-Line coach Bob Wylie will have to earn his pay because we’re going to have to start a lot of inexperienced guys until our vets start to heal up. Hopefully what’s left of our O-line stays healthy because we are only 1 or 2 injuries away from a world where Charles Thomas becomes a viable option.
Around the league…
- Arland Bruce was fined for his homage to Michael Jackson. While the TD celebration was stupid, it does provide us with the line of the week. When asked why he didn’t just moonwalk to honour Jackson, Bruce responded “Michael don’t do that no more.” Bruce should have just gone with plan B and dangled a baby from the goal posts.
- Jarrett Payton may have set a professional foortball record for worst miss on a convert attempt. Don’t quit your day job Jarrett.
- Montreal is going the same direction as us and BC and lining up a converted DB at linebacker. While Chip Cox is somewhat undersized for an LB his fumble return for a TD goes to show that it’s not the size of your Cox that matters, it’s how you use him.
- Winnipeg’s offense was atrocious!
- Is anyone besides Danny Maccioccia surprised that Jesse Lumsden got hurt? He’s the RB equivalent of Matt Dominguez, all the talent in the world but unable to stay healthy for an entire season. I still find it hilarious that Edmonton seriously thought that the answer to their woeful running attack was to bring in the most injury prone RB in the league. That’s like trying fix a leaky boat with an old piece of chewing gum.
Saturday, July 4, 2009
259th Post Extravaganza
Due to the lack of ornate gift baskets and email greeting cards I have received I’m going to go ahead and assume that you forgot what today is. That’s okay, other than the crippling emotional damage this will cause me, I’ll be fine.
Curious about why today is so important? It’s more than just Independence Day. More than the birthday of Geraldo Riviera. More than just the 27th Saturday of the year…
It’s the 2nd Anniversary of the Rider Prophet!!
This means we’ve outlasted most blogs, marriages, sitcoms and minority governments.
It’s been another good year for The Rider Prophet, here are some of the highlights:
- Riderfans Gainer Award for Most Memorable Post,
- Nominated for 4 Canadian Blog Awards
- Twice Featured on the CFL.ca main page
The 2nd anniversary is of course the cotton anniversary. Truth be told I’m holding out for the 6th which is the iron anniversary or the 16th which is the obsidian one (you can never have enough iron or obsidian). We may just skip next year’s anniversary as it is the leather anniversary and there’s concern amongst me and Media Consultant as to just how Man In The Bush will take that.
Anywho, in the spirit of celebrating our cotton anniversary, I’m proud to launch the first series of official Rider Prophet Merchandise. Three ways to proudly display your love of the Rider Prophet… if by chance you don’t love the Prophet they also make good rags, handkerchiefs or reusable diapers.
Click the link below out the new Rider Prophet Store for yourselves.
As we head into our 3rd full year, I’d just like to thank all 7.5 of our readers for sticking with us even though I know it hasn’t always been easy. I would also like to thank the people I’ve insulted and minority groups I’ve offended over the past 2 years for not pursuing legal action.
For those of you curious about what the future holds in store…
They’ll never stop the Rider Prophet. Have no fear I’ve got stories for years. Like, Man In the Bush becomes a robot, maybe Media Consultant gets a cell phone, has Prophet ever owned a bear? Or how about a crazy wedding where something happens and doo-doo doo-dooo
Curious about why today is so important? It’s more than just Independence Day. More than the birthday of Geraldo Riviera. More than just the 27th Saturday of the year…
It’s the 2nd Anniversary of the Rider Prophet!!
This means we’ve outlasted most blogs, marriages, sitcoms and minority governments.
It’s been another good year for The Rider Prophet, here are some of the highlights:
- Riderfans Gainer Award for Most Memorable Post,
- Nominated for 4 Canadian Blog Awards
- Twice Featured on the CFL.ca main page
The 2nd anniversary is of course the cotton anniversary. Truth be told I’m holding out for the 6th which is the iron anniversary or the 16th which is the obsidian one (you can never have enough iron or obsidian). We may just skip next year’s anniversary as it is the leather anniversary and there’s concern amongst me and Media Consultant as to just how Man In The Bush will take that.
Anywho, in the spirit of celebrating our cotton anniversary, I’m proud to launch the first series of official Rider Prophet Merchandise. Three ways to proudly display your love of the Rider Prophet… if by chance you don’t love the Prophet they also make good rags, handkerchiefs or reusable diapers.
Click the link below out the new Rider Prophet Store for yourselves.
As we head into our 3rd full year, I’d just like to thank all 7.5 of our readers for sticking with us even though I know it hasn’t always been easy. I would also like to thank the people I’ve insulted and minority groups I’ve offended over the past 2 years for not pursuing legal action.
For those of you curious about what the future holds in store…
They’ll never stop the Rider Prophet. Have no fear I’ve got stories for years. Like, Man In the Bush becomes a robot, maybe Media Consultant gets a cell phone, has Prophet ever owned a bear? Or how about a crazy wedding where something happens and doo-doo doo-dooo
Thursday, July 2, 2009
Official 2009 Prophecies
‘Twas but days before kickoff and all through the air
All that could be heard was sounds of despair.
The Riders just had their two best seasons in years
But that did little to allay the fans' fears.
The coaches were working with vets and unknowns
While the trainers pushed calcium to prevent more broken bones.
When at the last minute, who should stagger by?
A bearded prognosticator reeking of rye!
Many big names are gone from last year’s team
Change is the only constant under this regime.
Gone Mo, Gone Kitwana - It makes me so sad.
Gone Johnson, gone Bishop… guess the news ain’t all bad.
But Eric’s hands have been busy signing new faces
Though allegedly those hands have been other places.
And for that he found himself on a leave with pay
Did he touch her from behind, who am I to say?
This season will be Durant's big chance to shine
While many are worried, I think we’ll be fine.
It won’t always be pretty but he’s got weapons galore
Dressler, Clermont, Fantuz, there’s no way we don’t score.
With Geno and Smith out the O-line will be new
But Parenteau will be awesome and Belton will too.
Hugh Charles will do fine until Wes Cates get’s back
Get ready for a very potent offensive attack.
Defense is a question mark but it sure won’t be plain
Mainly because Etch is quasi-insane.
Success won’t come quickly, it will take some time
But by midseason the D will be in their prime.
Our schemes will be unorthodox but that’s how it goes
Watch Baggs wreak havoc despite his pigeon toes.
Patrick at safety will pick off more than a few
And Sean Lucas will get recognition that's long overdue.
Kavis Reed controls Special Teams and he ain’t no schmuk
I have a feeling for once our kick returns won’t suck.
Our start won’t be pretty and fans will distress
“We want Printers and Dinwiddie!” they will obsess.
But we’ll climb back to 500 by our Labour Day feud
Unless we keep getting injured… in which case we’re screwed.
A late season hot streak will turn the tide
On a wave of momentum the team will ride.
In terms of our record, I must confess
For the past 2 years I’ve had the same guess.
Same prediction again? what could be the harm?
11 – 7! (3rd time's the charm).
With a 2nd place finish we’ll be playoff bound
To play BC at Mosaic’s hallowed ground.
Without Bishop to stop us, this time we’ll succeed
A last minute TD will give us the lead.
Rider Nation will once again be jolly
Clermont will be the hero and give the finger to Wally.
Then on to Calgary to take on the champs
This kills me to say, but we’ll lose to the Stamps.
We’ll exceed expectations but fall short on that day
We're not quite ready to go all the way.
So there’s my predictions for the upcoming season
But if you’re skeptical it is with good reason.
For as history will show there’s no reason to dismay
A third of what’s written will be wrong anyway.
All that could be heard was sounds of despair.
The Riders just had their two best seasons in years
But that did little to allay the fans' fears.
The coaches were working with vets and unknowns
While the trainers pushed calcium to prevent more broken bones.
When at the last minute, who should stagger by?
A bearded prognosticator reeking of rye!
Many big names are gone from last year’s team
Change is the only constant under this regime.
Gone Mo, Gone Kitwana - It makes me so sad.
Gone Johnson, gone Bishop… guess the news ain’t all bad.
But Eric’s hands have been busy signing new faces
Though allegedly those hands have been other places.
And for that he found himself on a leave with pay
Did he touch her from behind, who am I to say?
This season will be Durant's big chance to shine
While many are worried, I think we’ll be fine.
It won’t always be pretty but he’s got weapons galore
Dressler, Clermont, Fantuz, there’s no way we don’t score.
With Geno and Smith out the O-line will be new
But Parenteau will be awesome and Belton will too.
Hugh Charles will do fine until Wes Cates get’s back
Get ready for a very potent offensive attack.
Defense is a question mark but it sure won’t be plain
Mainly because Etch is quasi-insane.
Success won’t come quickly, it will take some time
But by midseason the D will be in their prime.
Our schemes will be unorthodox but that’s how it goes
Watch Baggs wreak havoc despite his pigeon toes.
Patrick at safety will pick off more than a few
And Sean Lucas will get recognition that's long overdue.
Kavis Reed controls Special Teams and he ain’t no schmuk
I have a feeling for once our kick returns won’t suck.
Our start won’t be pretty and fans will distress
“We want Printers and Dinwiddie!” they will obsess.
But we’ll climb back to 500 by our Labour Day feud
Unless we keep getting injured… in which case we’re screwed.
A late season hot streak will turn the tide
On a wave of momentum the team will ride.
In terms of our record, I must confess
For the past 2 years I’ve had the same guess.
Same prediction again? what could be the harm?
11 – 7! (3rd time's the charm).
With a 2nd place finish we’ll be playoff bound
To play BC at Mosaic’s hallowed ground.
Without Bishop to stop us, this time we’ll succeed
A last minute TD will give us the lead.
Rider Nation will once again be jolly
Clermont will be the hero and give the finger to Wally.
Then on to Calgary to take on the champs
This kills me to say, but we’ll lose to the Stamps.
We’ll exceed expectations but fall short on that day
We're not quite ready to go all the way.
So there’s my predictions for the upcoming season
But if you’re skeptical it is with good reason.
For as history will show there’s no reason to dismay
A third of what’s written will be wrong anyway.
Monday, June 29, 2009
Monday Morning Sentimonies: Cuts, Curses and more Cuts
Thursday was cut down day across the CFL as teams had to finalize their rosters. While the Riders weren't able to cut everyone they wanted to they did cut a lot of people.
For the most part our cuts didn’t really surprise me. Here’s how I categorized them:
Not surprising: Nuvraj Bassi, Jeff Bolen, Bam Childress, Jason Geathers, Sasha Glavic, David Patterson, Brandon Perkins, Byron Ross, Brad Peters, Jerron Wishom and Seante Williams.
Surprising: Todd Blythe, Sam Olajubutu – Both were highly touted prospects but were injured throughout camp. As the saying goes, you can’t make the club in the tub. Still thought we might stash them on the injured list though.
We Liked Your Hustle, That’s Why It Was So Hard To Cut You: Juan Woah-seph. Poor Juan.
Fumbled His Way Off The Team: Casey McGahee
For me, who was cut was not really as surprising as who was not cut. I really thought that Gerran Walker and Adam Nicolson would be shown the door but they managed to stick on the injured list. Must be because of what they did last year because they sure didn’t do much in camp. Nick Hutchins was probably the biggest surprise in camp. Many people, myself included, assumed it was a foregone conclusion that he would go back to the Rams for his last year of eligibility. But Hutchins was very impressive all camp and definitely earned a spot. Dan Clark (who I will henceforth refer to as Nitro) was a pleasant surprise on the O-line too.
I still have no idea why Perri Scarcelli made our practice roster. Even if Boreham was more hurt than first suspected, Congi is more than capable of filling in. It’s not like Scarcelli is known for his leg strength.
Speaking of things I don’t understand… why do we have 2 long snappers on our active roster? You’d think going into our second full season with both we could make a decision! Unless we plan on introducing the revolutionary concept of situational long-snappers I see no need to waste an active roster spot on a back-up snapper... although I've found it never hurts to have one on speed dial.
Notable cuts from around the league:
BC – Kyle Mitchell (I said notable, not surprising)
Cal – Matt D’Orazio, Vince Marshall (So AFL’s top QB couldn’t cut it up here… I’m shocked)
Edm – Lester Ricard (I will miss announcers talking about Retard completing a pass)
Win – Joe Smith, JF Morin-Roberge, Matt O’Meara (League’s top rusher to a Bomber reject in 2 seasons... that’s quite the tumble)
Ham – Brandon Guillory (Guillory must really suck because it’s not like the D-line competition in Hamilton was all that tough)
Tor – Tyler Ebell, Jerome Mathis (So the highly touted NFL pro-bowler gets cut… again, I’m shocked)
Mtl – Reggie Hunt, Brad Banks (I feel bad for the Reaper for having to be in the same company as Brad Banks).
If you want evidence that the Riders are cursed, look no further than Neal Hughes. He was placed on the 9 game because of a lingering issue with his broken leg. But not the leg he broke last year, no the problems relate to the leg he broke 7 years ago as a Ram!! You’ve got to be freaking kidding me! We’ve got an injury list that’s already filling up with recent injuries and now we have to start worrying about injuries from 7 years ago?! This doesn’t happen to other teams. You don’t see the Stamps losing Henry Burris to a case of chicken pox that has lied dormant since elementary school. Seriously, what’s next?! Will we loose Scott Shultz to a rare recurring case of jaundice??
Other news from around the league…
Kenton Keith has been placed on the 9-game injured list. If you have been questioning the Riders’ personnel moves of late just remember that it could be worse, we could be the Ti-cats. They seem to be going out of their way to throw large amounts of money at big names players who end up not benefiting the team at all. I guess the positive here for Ti-cats fans (assuming any still exist) is that unlike Casey Printers, KK will at least not be able to negatively affect their on field performance.
Finally, Teyo Johnson has un-retired. His brief foray into retirement lasted only 4 weeks. Coincidentally those 4 weeks happened to coincide perfectly with training camp. I don’t know what’s more surprising, the fact that the Stamps are actually letting him get away with this or the fact that Teyo is the first person to think of this ingenious scam.
For the most part our cuts didn’t really surprise me. Here’s how I categorized them:
Not surprising: Nuvraj Bassi, Jeff Bolen, Bam Childress, Jason Geathers, Sasha Glavic, David Patterson, Brandon Perkins, Byron Ross, Brad Peters, Jerron Wishom and Seante Williams.
Surprising: Todd Blythe, Sam Olajubutu – Both were highly touted prospects but were injured throughout camp. As the saying goes, you can’t make the club in the tub. Still thought we might stash them on the injured list though.
We Liked Your Hustle, That’s Why It Was So Hard To Cut You: Juan Woah-seph. Poor Juan.
Fumbled His Way Off The Team: Casey McGahee
For me, who was cut was not really as surprising as who was not cut. I really thought that Gerran Walker and Adam Nicolson would be shown the door but they managed to stick on the injured list. Must be because of what they did last year because they sure didn’t do much in camp. Nick Hutchins was probably the biggest surprise in camp. Many people, myself included, assumed it was a foregone conclusion that he would go back to the Rams for his last year of eligibility. But Hutchins was very impressive all camp and definitely earned a spot. Dan Clark (who I will henceforth refer to as Nitro) was a pleasant surprise on the O-line too.
I still have no idea why Perri Scarcelli made our practice roster. Even if Boreham was more hurt than first suspected, Congi is more than capable of filling in. It’s not like Scarcelli is known for his leg strength.
Speaking of things I don’t understand… why do we have 2 long snappers on our active roster? You’d think going into our second full season with both we could make a decision! Unless we plan on introducing the revolutionary concept of situational long-snappers I see no need to waste an active roster spot on a back-up snapper... although I've found it never hurts to have one on speed dial.
Notable cuts from around the league:
BC – Kyle Mitchell (I said notable, not surprising)
Cal – Matt D’Orazio, Vince Marshall (So AFL’s top QB couldn’t cut it up here… I’m shocked)
Edm – Lester Ricard (I will miss announcers talking about Retard completing a pass)
Win – Joe Smith, JF Morin-Roberge, Matt O’Meara (League’s top rusher to a Bomber reject in 2 seasons... that’s quite the tumble)
Ham – Brandon Guillory (Guillory must really suck because it’s not like the D-line competition in Hamilton was all that tough)
Tor – Tyler Ebell, Jerome Mathis (So the highly touted NFL pro-bowler gets cut… again, I’m shocked)
Mtl – Reggie Hunt, Brad Banks (I feel bad for the Reaper for having to be in the same company as Brad Banks).
If you want evidence that the Riders are cursed, look no further than Neal Hughes. He was placed on the 9 game because of a lingering issue with his broken leg. But not the leg he broke last year, no the problems relate to the leg he broke 7 years ago as a Ram!! You’ve got to be freaking kidding me! We’ve got an injury list that’s already filling up with recent injuries and now we have to start worrying about injuries from 7 years ago?! This doesn’t happen to other teams. You don’t see the Stamps losing Henry Burris to a case of chicken pox that has lied dormant since elementary school. Seriously, what’s next?! Will we loose Scott Shultz to a rare recurring case of jaundice??
Other news from around the league…
Kenton Keith has been placed on the 9-game injured list. If you have been questioning the Riders’ personnel moves of late just remember that it could be worse, we could be the Ti-cats. They seem to be going out of their way to throw large amounts of money at big names players who end up not benefiting the team at all. I guess the positive here for Ti-cats fans (assuming any still exist) is that unlike Casey Printers, KK will at least not be able to negatively affect their on field performance.
Finally, Teyo Johnson has un-retired. His brief foray into retirement lasted only 4 weeks. Coincidentally those 4 weeks happened to coincide perfectly with training camp. I don’t know what’s more surprising, the fact that the Stamps are actually letting him get away with this or the fact that Teyo is the first person to think of this ingenious scam.
Sunday, June 28, 2009
Family Reunion Themed Preview: Toronto
“Relatives from the big city that enjoy doing the majority of their shopping at the rich people's garage sales”
You know the types… always regaling you with tales of life in “the big city”, how great it is, how much they are a part of the “in” crowd. Thing is, most of it is a lie, while they do live in the big city, things aren’t that great and they are not part of the in crowd. In fact, their only connection to the “in” crowd is the items they manage to scavenge at rich people’s garage sales. Such as the half eaten bagel that Brad Pitt threw out because it was stale or Paul McCartney’s old car (sure its rusted, dinted up, has duct tape on the seats and needs to be started with a manual crank but it was McCartney’s nonetheless) and let’s not forget Bill Gates’ own personal computer… from 15 years ago (Windows 95 was good then, so it must still be good). Problem with these items (must like 90% of the Argos recruits) is that while they have famous names attached to them, they are virtually useless.
Biggest Acquisition: Rob Murphy
Biggest Loss: Byron Parker/Dominique Dorsey
Biggest Strength: Arland Bruce
Biggest Weakness: Defense
Question Mark: The all-Europe coaching staff.
If they did nothing else, solidifying the O-line that protects Kerry Joseph will make the Argos a much better team. Given how bad they were last year, they have a long way to go. They still have no run game to speak of and stop the runs about as well as a diet high in fibre and prunes. The addition of Moreno should help but, as he proved in Hamilton, Zeke can’t do it all on his own.
All eyes on Bart Andrus and the assistant coaches formerly known as NFL Europa. I guess to be fair, there’s no way he could be worse than the gong show that Rich Stubler ran last year.
Verdict: Assuming Andrus and Das coaching staff do a half decent job, the Argos should be a better team. They’ve improved at some key positions and would have to try really hard to be as bad as last year. That said they lost some of their top players and didn’t have that many good ones to begin with, so they are still a long ways away from the dominant Argos of days gone by.
2nd in the East despite a losing record at 8-10
Saturday, June 27, 2009
Family Reunion Themed Preview: Edmonton
“Your uncle’s new girlfriend who’s good from far but far from good”
You notice that your uncle has just arrived to the reunion with a new girl in tow. This strikes you as odd since his divorce left him with a pot belly and an orange penis due to over indulgence of Cheetos and 1-900 numbers. But now he seems to be all cleaned up and the girl he just walked in with actually looks pretty hot. He sees you and comes over with his hot girlfriend in tow. But as they get closer you realize that this girlfriend seems to get uglier and uglier the closer she gets until your pretty sure that your uncle shaved a gorilla and dolled it up in some makeup and a sundress. A clear case of good from far but far from good. Paper bags and dim lighting would be this girl’s best friends.
Biggest Acquisition: Mo Lloyd
Biggest Loss: Kelley Campbell
Biggest Strength: Ricky Ray
Biggest Weakness: Defense/running
Question Mark: Rebuilt Defense
On the surface it would seem that Edmonton has taken all the necessary steps to improve on the weaknesses of last year. They replaced their brutal head coach, brought in a marquee running back to help their non-existent ground game and rebuilt their porous defense. But if you dig deeper you realize that things aren’t as good as they appear.
While I have the utmost respect for Richie Hall, I have my doubts about is ability to be as effective a head coach as he was a D-Coordinator. Seems like a Danny Barrett type to me (to be fair though, that is a giant improvement over Maciocia). Jesse Lumsden is a band aid that will vastly improve their run game for 2.35 games before settling back onto the injury list. There are building a secondary around Scott Gordon and Kelly Malveaux and continuing to waste Kitwana’s talent at DE which I’m sure suits the other 7 teams just fine. Mo Lloyd is an impact player but given his fairly weak supporting cast he will have a lot on his shoulders. He may be good but he can’t do it all by himself. Most importantly, the Esks have very little depth. So while I expect them to start the season strong, when injuries start piling up we’re going to see them drop like Man In The Bush’s pants when he’s had a few too many.
Verdict: This is a mediocre team overall with very little depth. They will have to rely on Ray, Lumsden and Lloyd to carry them. While they are all among the tops at their position, there’s just no way I can see them being good enough to carry 39 other players in a very competitive division.
4th in the west at 8-10
Biggest Acquisition: Mo Lloyd
Biggest Loss: Kelley Campbell
Biggest Strength: Ricky Ray
Biggest Weakness: Defense/running
Question Mark: Rebuilt Defense
On the surface it would seem that Edmonton has taken all the necessary steps to improve on the weaknesses of last year. They replaced their brutal head coach, brought in a marquee running back to help their non-existent ground game and rebuilt their porous defense. But if you dig deeper you realize that things aren’t as good as they appear.
While I have the utmost respect for Richie Hall, I have my doubts about is ability to be as effective a head coach as he was a D-Coordinator. Seems like a Danny Barrett type to me (to be fair though, that is a giant improvement over Maciocia). Jesse Lumsden is a band aid that will vastly improve their run game for 2.35 games before settling back onto the injury list. There are building a secondary around Scott Gordon and Kelly Malveaux and continuing to waste Kitwana’s talent at DE which I’m sure suits the other 7 teams just fine. Mo Lloyd is an impact player but given his fairly weak supporting cast he will have a lot on his shoulders. He may be good but he can’t do it all by himself. Most importantly, the Esks have very little depth. So while I expect them to start the season strong, when injuries start piling up we’re going to see them drop like Man In The Bush’s pants when he’s had a few too many.
Verdict: This is a mediocre team overall with very little depth. They will have to rely on Ray, Lumsden and Lloyd to carry them. While they are all among the tops at their position, there’s just no way I can see them being good enough to carry 39 other players in a very competitive division.
4th in the west at 8-10
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