Monday Morning Sentimonies: Abbreviated Sentimonies

It’s a busy few days for your friendly neighbourhood Prophet so you’ll have to settle for abbreviated sentimonies (though abbreviated and sentimonies both seem like really long words given the message I’m trying to convey).

- Gotta love those Seminoles. Thursday it’s reported that they are partners in a $1.2 billion stadium proposal. Friday they issue a press release stating that they are not involved in anything in Saskatchewan. Saturday they decided that they did have a memorandum of agreement. Maybe it’s just me, but agreeing to be part of $1.2 billion project is something you probably shouldn’t forget about. Not exactly a great first impression regarding their management style.

- Along those lines. The Alouettes just signed Gavin Walls. This after trading for him and promptly cutting him a couple days later. I assume they are currently working on trading him to another team only to subsequently re-acquire him prior to the trade deadline and possibly cut him again for good measure.

- As sad as it is, Casey Printers provides our lone dose of sanity (this is indeed a disturbing universe). He signed an extension with the BC Lions with a hefty pay increase and amazingly they only needed one try to get the deal done. Though to be fair BC did offer him a similar contract a few years ago and he turned it down a couple times so I guess this isn’t a real good example either.

Maybe some sanity will return to the CFL later in week when I will return with a more complete post... though I won’t count on it.

$1.2 Billion Stadium Proposal… Say What?!?

Well that certainly came out of nowhere! Just days after the province released a feasibility study into a new stadium in Regina, thingst got a whole lot more interesting when a new proposal was unveiled.

A group of independent First Nation bands have come forward with a jaw dropping proposal for a 55,000 person stadium and a Vegas-style Hard Rock hotel/casino with a $1.2 billion price tag. Yeah that’s right BILLION! The group is partnered with the Seminole tribe of the US who are huge players down south. They own the Hard Rock chain and have ties with the Vegas entertainment scene. They also are willing to invest $600 million into the project and provide credit for the remaining costs. The catch is that this is all contingent upon the government selling Casinos Regina and Moose Jaw to the First Nations group for $350 million and then turning around and investing $200 million of that right back into the new stadium.

At first glance, this plan is just way too ambitious for a province of a million people but when a people come to the table with $600 million you damn well listen to what they have to say!

While I love the idea of deep pocketed private investors being interested in the project and thinking big, I do have some concerns about the plan. First off, there is just no way that and 55K capacity stadium is sustainable in a city and province this small. We may be growing but not fast enough to consistently fill a stadium that big. Second, while the vision of Regina being turned into a Canadian sin city is intriguing, in reality it’s not going to happen. Sure the Hard Rock may be a glamourous trendy place but let’s not forget that it would be placed in between train tracks on one side and Gabbos and Fabricland on the other… which would pretty much ruin any illusions of Vegas. Also, until the province allows us the drink while women dance around a pole while taking their clothes off, the “Vegas” mystique is further ruined. Not that I would ever frequent such an establishment. I mean sure I admit I was in one once but I maintain that I thought it was a soup kitchen and I was looking to volunteer my time and I only threw money on stage because I thought they were collecting donations for said soup kitchen. Lastly, I don’t like the idea of the province selling the casinos, which generate a profit of $40 million a year, for a net gain of $150 million. The casinos would generate more than that in 4 years if we just kept them.

So as you can see there are some concerns with the proposal, but as I said when someone comes forward with this kind of cash, you don’t just brush them off… you see of you can work something out. Personally, I think it would be awesome if we could build a stadium that is 5% more extravagant that the new Dallas stadium just to piss off Jerry Jones.

Apparently this proposal is only 1 of 7 that have been submitted. That goes to show you the level of interest that the private sector has in this project.

In player news, the Riders signed OL Dan Goodspeed. Given that Taman brought him into the league this signing was pretty much a given from the moment Goodspeed was released by Hamilton. He is one of the better tackles in the league so he’s a good pick-up. But it appears that with Geno, O’Day, Bates and now Goodsppeed in the fold we are aiming for the oldest OL in the league by far. I propose we start referring to our line as the Great Wall of China. Because it will be a significant obstacle, and it is of approximately the same age.

It appears the CFL is considering a couple rule changes for the upcoming season. One would be to force teams to attempt 2 point converts if they score a TD in overtime to make things more exciting. The other would be to reinstate the option of fielding the ball at the 35 yd line following a FG. They are also looking at some minor changes to the no yards rules. As with past years my “ref should ride trained ostriches” suggestion does not appear to be getting much consideration. Same with my suggestion to mandate mascot soccer as the halftime show at every football game.

Elsewhere in the CFL the Als traded Stan Van Sichem (awesome name) to Winnipeg for Gavin Walls… only to release Walls a couple days later. Apparently, the Als were hoping to renegotiate Walls’ $120K/year contract and imminent $15K bonus but were unsuccessful and released him rather than pay the bonus. Van Sichem (a former Regina Ram) must feel pretty low given how this all played out. Players all like to think that they are valued by their team but how much could the Als have really valued Van Sichem when they were willing to trade for the right to have Gavin Walls on their roster for 48 hours?

CFL Ins and Outs

Toronto

In: DB Jordan Younger (re-signed)

The Argos just can’t seem to make up their mind about Younger. They traded him to Edmonton in 2008 only to end up re-signing him in 2009. Then they cut him just 4 weeks ago only to end up re-signing him. I hope for Younger’s sake he has been negotiating signing bonuses each time Toronto has signed him because that alone would make him a very rich man.

Montreal

In: QB Cody Pickett (free agent signing)

This move baffles me. The Als have Calvillo who is still the top QB in the league. McPhearson who is the chosen one to succeed AC (estimate succession date pegged at 2033 at the current pace). And Leak who looked promising in his limited appearances last season. I have no idea why they would want to add an embarrassing failure from Toronto when they appear to be pretty set at pivot. Maybe Jim Popp will try and claim Pickett’s contract as a charitable donation… since charity is about the only explanation I can come up with for this move.

Winnipeg

Out: DB Lenny Walls (released)

Lenny Walls was 2^nd in the league last season with 7 interceptions so I have no idea why Winnipeg suddenly decided he was no longer needed. He was probably making good money but when you consider that they are also still paying the likes of Brock Ralph, Fred Perry and Stephan LeFors… paying good money to Walls seems like a better use of your money since you are at least getting some tangible results out of the deal.

Rider Prophet Salutes Bad Jerseys

For many years, jerseys for sports teams were pretty simple… they had a white one and a coloured one and was usually limited to the team name or a logo. Then somewhere along the hippie artsy-fartsy crowd decided that the existing jerseys were too plain or lacked feng shui or whatever it is those beatniks call it and began coming up with new designs. Then the marketing crowd came along and realized just how much potential money could be made off these hippies and ever since there has been a never ending stream of new jersey designs.

Now many of these new designs are successful but as you’ll see below, many of them end up being massive failures.

Top 10 Worst Jerseys

10 – Houston Astros

Although the rainbow-ish shirts leave a lot to be desired, my bigger concern is the questionable choice to place the numbers directly next to a player’s crotch. Generally speaking, that’s not the first place I look when I’m trying to identify someone. “Hey, you figured out my number 2 minutes ago, now you are just being creepy!”

**Anyone else think the white guy looks kinda like Ricky Ray?

9 – Boston Bruins

If you were going to prominently feature a timid, cute, non-threatening looking bear on your jerse

y you could have at least gone with a more publicly recognized bear such as Winnie the Pooh, Baloo or at the very least put a forest ranger’s hat on him to make it look more like Smokey.

8 – Vancouver Canucks

It honestly looks like they ran out of money for equipment and were forced to decorate a set of plain black jerseys in coordinating lines of duct tape.

7 – Seattle Seahawks

Apparently Seattle didn’t get the memo that the “Everything automatically becomes cooler with neon green” phase died back in the early 90s.

6 – Denver Nuggets

It’s fitting that Denver is know as the mile-high city since clearly whoever designed this jersey was also extremely high. I’m shocked that the “Joseph and the Amazing Technicolor Dream Coat” look never caught on.

5 – New York Islanders

The only explanation I can think for this jersey is that Captain Highliner secretly cut a sponsorship deal with the Islanders.

4 – Anaheim Mighty Ducks

A jersey such as this is what happens when you base a professional hockey franchise on an Emilio Estevez movie, create a spin-off cartoon series based on that hockey team and prominently feature a character from that cartoon series on the hockey team’s alternate jersey. It’s a wonder more teams haven’t followed suit.

3 – Philadelphia Eagles

Marketing lesson #1 – In a town notorious for the toughness and aggressiveness of its sports teams and its fans, a delicate blend of pastel colours is likely not going to be well received.

2 – Dallas Stars

Marketing lesson #2 - Logos that look suspiciously like a uterus will likely end up being huge failures.

1 – Montreal Canadiens

Look I’m a Habs fan and even I have to admit that these were the worst jerseys I have ever seen. They look more like audition for Where’s Waldo gone wrong or “Wear Your Pyjamas To Work Day” than the most storied franchise in hockey history.

Monday Morning Sentimonies: New Stadium

This past weekend marked a climatic finish to the Olympics for Canada… and by that I mean Kevin Martin and his rink defeated Norway and their fancy pants (seriously, curling has enough problems being recognized as a legitimate sport as it is, the last thing it needs is for the face of the sport to be wearing pants that appear to be stolen from a band of traveling clowns) and we exerted our dominance in the field of speed skating in groups of 3. Oh yeah and we won some hockey game of great national and international significance in dramatic fashion too.

Anywho, I assumed with the Olympics out of the way we would see more football news… evidently I was wrong as the CFL newsreel this morning was as non-existent as Azerbaijan’s medal count.

Fortunately late this morning some big news came out, saving me from trying to piece together a post using only obscure Olympic references and big words I randomly pulled from the dictionary (I was planning to open with “eviscerate the proletariat”).

The long awaited feasibility study looking into a potential new stadium in Regina was released today.

I have been excited about the prospect of a new stadium since discussions first began on the issue many months ago and skimming through the study only increased my excitement. All I can say is Wow!

What began as an idea for a new stadium has evolved into a total redevelopment of Dewdney Ave. complete with parks, walkways to downtown, new businesses and of course a new domed stadium at the centre of it all. The proposed stadium would have a capacity of 33,000 seats, could be expanded to 45,000 for things like the Grey Cup and would include a permanent Roughrider Hall of Fame. All for the low price of $386 million (and an extra $45 million if we want the roof to retract) and I bet if we haggled with the sales people enough we could get them to throw in all weather floor mats for free.

A decision on whether to go ahead with the project is expected in the spring.

Realistically, the decision has already been made… this project WILL go ahead (mark my words). The only thing the government needs to figure out at this point is how they are going to spin the announcement in a way that won’t cause public outrage.

A little over a year ago, there would have been no issue at all with this project. The economy was booming and the government had so much money that they could pretty much solve any problem they had with their chequebooks. But the recession and complete collapse of potash revenues have made things far more difficult. I mean they just delayed funding for the children’s hospital, are delaying funding increases to education and municipalities, and still have yet to settle a contract with a big chunk of provincial health care workers. To say they don’t have any money for these groups and then turn around and write a massive cheque for a football stadium would be political suicide (seriously you’d be better off to publicly denounce Tommy Douglas, Ron Lancaster, Gordie Howe and Sandra Schmirler simultaneously).

But as I said, this is a done deal so they have to get very creative with how they fund the project. A large chunk will have to come from the private sector and by all reports there are private investors who are ready to pony up. The feds, City and Riders will also kick in a chunk of the bill. As for the remaining chunk, that’s where the province comes in. One idea that I have heard includes funding the project through a crown corporation like Sask Gaming Corp and I imagine that it will end up being something of this nature.

However, given how much I want this to succeed, I’ve taken it upon myself to come up with ideas of how the province can fund the new stadium without public outrage. I don’t ask much in return, just the satisfaction of helping out… and of course a gold statue of myself on the steps of the new stadium (we’ll talk)

Top 5 Ideas for Funding the New Stadium

5 – Take $25 million to Vegas and play roulette
All on black, All on black, All on red, All on black… just like that you have $400 million.

4 – Hire a fleet of helicopters and steal someone else’s stadium
It’s cheaper, quicker and way cooler than building it ourselves.

3 – Cut Funding for Orphanages
Who are they going to tell? Their parents?

2 – Amass a bunch of smaller private investors.
I’ve been pushing for Wisers Whiskey Milkyway Empire Hotel Hillbilly Vac Shack Rider Prophet Media Source Adult Video Stupid Michael Bishop Stadium for close to a year now and still think the idea has merit.

1 – Temporary Refund Adjustment
It sure beats a tax

Friday Round-Up: Rodriguez and Patrick In; Davis Out

If you’re like me you’ve been busy this week watching the triumphs of our Canadian hockey teams, the dominance of our curlers/women bobsledders and the emotional journey of Joannie Rochette… and by that of course I mean definitely not watching women’s figure skating and likely watching something far more manly like ice dancing or 2 man luge. Amid all this Olympic hoopla, it was a busy week in Riderville so let’s get to it… The big news that everyone is talking about is the trade with Hamilton. We acquired Prechae Rodriguez in exchange for Adam Nicholson, a 3rd round draft pick in 2011 and the neg rights to kick returner Chris Williams. I’m somewhat torn on this one. On one hand it’s a typical Taman trade in that we trade a Canadian and a draft pick for an American. That said it’s not like Nicholson is a huge loss and a 3rd round pick is a relatively small price to pay. Now I am in the minority who think that Rodriguez is overrated. Yeah he was the East’s Top Rookie in 2008 but he is a one trick pony… jump ball deep is his only play. However, even with his limited repertoire he is an upgrade over Gerran Walker so he should have a positive impact on our offense. It’s by no means a Tillman-style fleecing of the Cats but all in all I would say it’s a decent trade. In order to facilitate the trade, Jason Clermont was asked to take a pay cut. This is hardly unexpected given Clermont’s reduced role last year. Clermont, being the business minded fellow that is, probably agreed to the pay cut on the condition that the new coaches purchase their houses through him… likely putting him ahead at the end of the day. We also officially re-signed James Patrick and Marcus Adams. To me Patrick is a huge signing. He started the season slow but developed into an impact player down the stretch and into the playoffs (much like Sean Lucas did in 2007). I believe he will continue to improve and be an impact safety (something this team hasn’t had in many years). Closest thing we’ve had was the “impact” of Scott Gordon hitting a lineman on his way to coming nowhere near the QB on a blitz. But along with all the arrivals, there was a major departure. After spending the previous 43 decades the other teams’ most elite play makers like Geroy Simon, Ben Cahoon, Terry Vaughn, hell, I think he's been around so long that he probably even had a few battles with Willie Shakespeare (who by all accounts ran quite the hook and go), Eddie Davis announced his retirement yesterday. While you hate to see a player of Davis’ calibre go, at 37, there’s no denying that he was starting to slow down. His knowledge of the game was second to none but physically you could see that he was starting to lose a step last season. Davis leaves with a legacy as one of the best DBs in Rider history (Barracuda history as well). While his leadership will be missed, with the presence of Lance Frazier and the emergence of Chris McKenzie (not to mention the fact that the rest of our secondary remains in tact), we will be fine. So farewell to Eddie and many thanks for your contributions to the team over the past 9 years. There was also another departure in the CFL that saddened the Rider Prophet. Michael Bishop was released by the Bombers this week (pause for moment of silence). In 2010, Bishop reached hilarious new lows on the football field. From completing only 8 passes with the season on the line, to being so dumb he required the plays to be called via whiteboards, to knocking himself unconscious on his own blocker… the entertainment never seemed to end. Now who will fill my days with hilarious ineptness and repeated failure?

CFL Ins and Outs

Hamilton
In: OL Jason Jimenez (free agent signing)
Out: OL Dan Goodspeed (released)
It came down to math on this one, Jimenez was younger and likely cheaper and Goodspeed had a $90K bonus due on March 1. Plus Bob O’Billivich was the one who originally brought Jimemez to the Lions. Goodspeed was a Taman guy, so you connect the dots. Not that I really want us to sign another OL the wrong side of 30, it’s just the odds of it happening are good.

Toronto
In: WR Gerran Walker, DL Alex Buzbee, DL Ejiro Kuale, Leon Joe (free agent signing)
Out: QB Stephen Reaves (cut)
Walker may not be the best receiver but he’s still pretty good. He’s fast and has pretty good hands (when he’s not returning kicks) so he should have a positive impact on the Argos offense… the impact would be even greater if the Argos had someone who could actually throw the ball to him. I would like to make an unbiased recommendation that they bring back Michael Bishop.

Edmonton
Out: DB Kelly Malveaux, DB Lamar Herron, DB Bradley Robinson, DL Jerome Haywood, OL Garrick Jones (cut)
Wow, that’s quite the collection of terrible players. I’m shocked that the Esks’ D was as terrible as it was when these were calibre of players they were reduced to fielding.

BC
Out: RB Ian Smart, DB Lavar Glover, DL Nautyn McKay-Loescher (cut) LB JoJuan Armour (retired)
No real surprises here.

Winnipeg
In: QB Stephen Jyles, WR DJ Hall (free agent signing) LB Thaine Carter (2009 draft pick signing)
Out: QB Michael Bishop, QB Casey Bramlet (cut)
Again, I can’t put into words the sadness that Michael Bishop’s unemployment is causing me. Hopefully another Indoor Football League team will sign him this year… I’m looking at you Austin Turfcats.

Monday Morning Sentimonies: Goings On

With the Olympics in full swing, football has taken a back seat of late. But personally I’m starting to tire a bit of the winter games. Maybe it’s the fact that Canada’s performance in pretty much every single event seems to end with Brian Williams telling us that “Canada came up just short” or “… and a disappointing finish for Canadian athletes”… not the least of which was Martin Brodeur ruining what was otherwise a pretty good effort by our hockey team by inexplicably trying to repeatedly play the puck with all the finesse and talent of a Lithuanian mountain goat.

I mean sure, we still have curling and ice dancing (you know, the manly sports) but I think we need something to take our mind off the Olympics for awhile. So let’s check in and see what’s been happening in the CFL…

Things are still fairly quiet on the free agent front other than it sounds like Chunky Adams has agreed on a new contract. Still no word on our other free agents. Apparently Gerran Walker is mulling over contract offers from the Riders, Lions and Argos. For some odd reason he wants to go to Winnipeg but LaPolice has stated that they are not interested. They are also not interested in James Patrick which is great news for us. At this point, unless BC backs up a truckload of money, Patrick should end up re-signing here because his other options are fairly limited.

Word is Larry Zierlein is the leading candidate to become the Riders’ new O-line Coach. Zierlein spent the last 2 years as the OL Coach for the Pittsburgh Steelers. He has a fairly extensive coaching resume so he seems like a good hire. He is also a senior (64) which should push the average age of our coaching staff to highest in the CFL (seems like an odd goal to me, but what do I know). Interesting story about Zierlein… he once accidentally forwarded a pornographic email to commissioner Roger Goodell (among other high ranking NFL officials). Given Zierlein’s age, I believe that it was legitimately an accident. He probably didn’t even realize what he was doing and was just attempting to tap a message out in Morse code since he couldn’t locate the rotary dialer.

The Argos have started clearing house, releasing Kerry Joseph, Cody Pickett and Zeke Moreno. While it’s hard to argue with any of these moves, they do create a pretty big problem for them… they have no QB (unless you want to count 3rd stringer Stephen Reaves ***Edit: They just cut Reaves too***). I guess to be fair it’s not like the Argos had a legitimate QB last year anyway so they aren’t really any worse off.

It does beg the question though… just who the hell does coach Jim Barker plan to play this year? Word is they are pursuing Gibran Hamdan who played with the Bills last year but you’d have to think they have their eye on at least one QB with CFL experience. There aren’t any on the free agent market so that points to a trade. There is a team out there that would be a logical trading partner but there’s one slight snag… they are owned by the same guy. BC needs to dump either Buck Pierce or Jarious Jackson but the optics of a trade between the Braley owned teams are sketchy at best. Personally I could care less. There have been ridiculous trades between teams with different owners (most notably Hamilton sending Troy Davis and Dan Comiskey to the Esks in ’05) so its not like different ownership ensures fair deals. Besides Pierce and Jackson aren’t that good anyway so even if the Lions only get a few rolls of tape in exchange they likely come out ahead in the deal.

The Ti-Cats have landed free agent all-star Sandro DeAngeles. They needed a new kicker to replace the recently released Nick Setta and Sandro marks a huge upgrade. But given that he doesn’t punt the Ti-Cats now need a punter. I’m hoping they find one who is tough enough to continue the longstanding tradition of beating up DeAngeles.

CFL Ins and Outs

Hamilton

In: DL Jean-Philippe Gilbert, DB Will Poole, DB Jason Shivers, DL Michael Landry (free agent signing)

Out: LB Derrick Pope (cut)

Edmonton

In: DL Kenny Pettway (free agent signing)

Toronto

In: DB Willie Middlebrooks (re-signed)

Winnipeg

In: WR Adarius Bowman, OL Ryan Donnelly (re-signed). QB Adam DiMichele (free agent signing)

Out: DL Michael Landry (cut)

Friday Round-Up

The Riders officially announced its coaching staff yesterday (with the exception of an O-Line coach). As expected, Doug Berry was named Offensive Coordinator, Bob Dyce was named Receivers Coach and Jim Daley was named Special Teams Coordinator. While I have concerns over Berry’s temper and ability to lose the locker room, I think he’s smart enough to do well in his position (just keep him away from the Head Coach spot). Dyce I know relatively little about but am willing to give a chance. However, the hiring of Jim Daley makes me have serious doubts about the intelligence of our decision makers.

Seriously what on his resume jumped off the page and screamed “this guy is a good hire’?!?!?! He was a failure as our Head Coach. He was a failure as Winnipeg’s Head Coach. And most recently was a failure as Defensive Coordinator in Edmonton. C’mon Man! I never thought I’d live to see the day where Alex Smith would be a significant upgrade on Special Teams.

It seems Stephen Jyles has finally made up his mind and will be headed for Winnipeg. This should have been a no-brainer for Jyles as Winnipeg offered him a legitimate chance to start while we did not. However, much like when he was on the field, Jyles was hesitant to look away from his first option, took a long time to make a decision and probably ended up accidentally faxing his signed Bomber contract to Ken Miller.

Unlike many, I didn’t actually mind Jyles (other than the fact that he was abysmal at the one yard plunge). I think given a chance he could develop into a legitimate starter. Don’t get me wrong I’m happier with Durant (who is way smarter than Jyles), I’m just saying I don’t hate the guy. I think this is a good move for both sides. Jyles gets a chance to compete for a starting spot (and quite frankly if he can’t manage to best Michael Bishop he should probably just retire) and we give our young QB prospects (Harrell, Bell and Bergquist) a chance to shine. While some are concerned that we have zero experience now should (god forbid) Durant get hurt, I’m not so worried. Let’s not forget that Durant was a nobody when he got called into action in 2008 and that turned out alright (save for the part where the Argos crack his ribs and Bishop ends up ruining our season). I’m confident that one of our guys will step up in camp and establish himself as a viable back-up.

A bit more light has been shed on the decision to bring in Dominique Dorsey. I, like many, was wondering about Jason Armstead in all of this. Well it seems Armstead is pushing for a new contract (presumably including a pay raise) which isn’t the best way to endear yourself to the new GM (particularly since the new GM already cut him once in his previous job). My guess is that Armstead probably just heard that we offered 100K to Jyles and reasoned that since he was more proficient passer (he did complete 100% of his pass attempts in 2009 and scored a TD on 100% of his regular season passes), he should be making at least that much.

The Toronto Argonauts have fired Assistant General Manager/Director, Player Personnel Gregory Mohns as well as Coordinator of Canadian Scouting Miles Gorrell. What shocked me about this was the fact that the Argos have a designated position for Canadian scouting. Given that they haven’t actually scouted a Canadian in many years I wonder what the hell Mr. Gorrell has been doing all this time. I would also like to know how I go about applying for this position because it would be one of the easiest jobs ever.

Jesse Lumsden will soon compete in the Olympics as part of our Bobsledding team. This could be a big moment for Lumsden because if he manages to complete one run he will have surpassed his accomplishments as an Edmonton Eskimo.

That’s it for now. Have a good weekend.