Monday Morning Sentimonies: Closing it Out

Riders 21 – BC 28

Only in the CFL could I manage to get angry about the results of a meaningless game. Simply put the Riders beat the Lions on Saturday… but they could not beat the refs. We had a touchdown taken off the board by a whistle blow so prematurely that the call on the field qualified for admission to the neonatal care unit. The Command Centre also made their habitual Rider-hating appearance to overturn a called incompletion despite a lack of clear evidence giving BC a TD. Was it a completion? Maybe but I don’t believe there was sufficient evidence to overturn the call on the field. The refs also somehow managed to miss this:

 

I firmly believe and keep trying to say there is no ref conspiracy against the Riders but refs keep piling on evidence to the contrary.

Do I care at the end of the day that we lost? No. But its frustrating when the number 1 thing fans ask for is to fix the command centre and officiating and the League responds by reconfiguring the fields instead. 

Tainted results aside you have to feel pretty darn good about that game as a Rider fan. When our starters we’re in, we were clearly the better team… well as long as you ignore that first play on defense where Campbell made no effort to move to cover his guy and Field channeled his inner Junior Mertile in his tackling effort. Even when we started rolling with our back-ups BC was only marginally better than us. 

Offensively Harris looked sharp going 10/11. While its entertaining to see Lamar Harris outrunning defenders, we were all pleading for him to slide about 4 yards sooner. Shaefer-Baker had a hell of a half and is clearly ready to go for playoffs. He made some very difficult catches. Him taking a drink of Gatorade from the BC sidelines was pure entertainment. The O-line kept Harris clean and even the back-ups did not give up a sack until the 2^nd half. The Riders did not punt until the 3^rd quarter. This was BC’s starting D with a home playoff game on the line and despite missing our 3 top receivers, we we’re able to move the ball on them. Jack Coan is doing really well on sneaks. Tommy Stevens must have been dying on the sidelines. If he got some of the holes that Coan got Saturday he would have score 2 long TDs. Given how well Coan was doing, the decision to let Maier run a sneak which resulted in a fumble seems all the more questionable. 

Defensively other than that first play where we were clearly asleep, we held the much lauded BC offense (with all their starters) to a whole lot of nothing. The line was getting great pressure and managed 2 sacks against a BC line that has given up the least sacks all year. Hell the golden child of the CFL even managed to throw a pick to Lokombo. Do you know how bad you have to be to be one of 2 people in the history of the CFL to throw a pick to Lokombo? Ironically the only other document instance was also BC. VA threw one to him in the playoff game at Mosaic. Should BC end up here in the West Final I may need to see if I can find a Lokombo anytime INT prop bet just in case. 

Special teams was a mixed bag. It was refreshing to have a kicker come in and just do his job. Hughes not only eclipsed the non-existent bar established by Campbell Fair but nailed it every time he was called on. Nice to see Alford get the all-time Rider record… though I’m lying if I say I truly believe he has one more return TD left in him. Coverage team had some issues. Mirco had one boomer and a couple so-so kicks. 

Overall the game was a success. Our starters got some quality reps in. We emerged relatively healthy. And we sent a message to divisional opponent that we finished first for a reason. We now have 2 full weeks to get ready for the West Final. The regular season was a big success and our reward is being one home win away from the ultimate goal. 

Other random thoughts:

-        It was a predictably small crowd but kudos to those that came, the stadium was loud relative to the number of people there.

-        I would pay money to watch a video of the throwing motion of the guy who did the Toss the Rock challenge on loop. It was the football equivalent of Charles Barkley golfing.

-        Hair dye mat be able to maintain Rory Allen’s Elvis hairdo but it can’t hide the effects of time on his face.

-        When they do the Price is Right stats contest I have decided that I am more offended by the participants’ lack of knowledge of basic Price is Right betting strategy than I am of their lack of knowledge of the Riders or basic logic. We need some mandatory Bob Barker film study is school curriculum.