Rider Prophet's 6th Anniversary

I got so caught up with everything else yesterday that I completely forgot how significant the date of July 4th is... I mean aside from the day where the US honours a Will Smith movie about aliens for some reason. Yesterday marked the 6th anniversary of this blog. Six years. I'm as surprised as anyone. In an era where things come and go more rapidly than ever I have lasted longer than most blogs... and lasted 3 times as long as the average 6 year NHL contract. And its all thanks to you guys.

My readership keeps growing every year, my legions of followers on the twitter keep going up. I must be doing something right. Not really sure what that is but as they say: when in Rome. This year saw the addition of the very popular hobo correspondent. When you operate a free blog, employees who will work for discarded sandwich crusts are a valuable asset.

The 6th anniversary is traditionally the sugar anniversary... which I don't really get. If I give Mrs. Prophet sugar for our 6th anniversary, the odds of there being a 7th will be on par with the odds of Baltimore winning another Grey Cup. Evidently Man in the Bush was aware that this is the sugar anniversary as there is a video from him in my inbox set to Def Leppard's Pour Some Sugar On Me that I am afraid to open because it likely features him and that can't be good for anyone.

That's ok, all I really want in this 6th year is another Grey Cup win. I haven't enjoyed one of those since '07 (to which anyone reading this from wither Hamilton or Winnipeg is going "oh boo frickin' hoo") and one this year at home would be unreal.

Anywho, a big thanks to all of you who keep making this fun for me to do. See you in the stands tonight.

Sponsored Video: Trailer: All-New Range Rover Sport, Pikes Peak Driven Challenge

Here's a new short trailer for the new Range Rover Sport. Apparently it climbed Pikes Peak. The 4,700ft climb with 156 corners was completed in just 12 minutes and 35.61 seconds. That set the fastest ever time for not just a SUV, but for any production vehicle. Not too shabby. 

Its a teaser for I assume a full length feature coming later. Personally such fancy vehicles are well out of my price range (unless there is a generous benefactor among my readers). But you should check it out and join with me in daring to dream.

Disclaimer: This post has been sponsored by Landrover, but all thoughts are my own

Are You Smarter Than A Toddler - Week 2 Picks

Here are the Prophet family picks for week 2

Prophet Jr. - Winnipeg, Toronto, Calgary, Hamilton
Rider Prophet - Montreal, BC, Saskatchewan, Hamilton
Mrs. Prophet - Montreal, BC, Saskatchewan, Hamilton
Step Prophet - Montreal, Toronto, Saskatchewan, Hamilton
Momma Prophet - Montreal, BC, Calgary, Hamilton

If you haven't already done so, please get your picks in by kickoff on Thursday. We are still welcoming new entries too in case you missed out on Week 1.

Riders vs. Stamps: Friday Night Football!

 

Man oh man, if you aren’t jacked up for this Friday’s game then you are either not a football fan or in a coma. Home Opener. On Friday Night. Featuring two 1-0 teams. Against the much hated Stampeders. Short of legalizing the use of tables, ladders and chairs, I don’t know how they could add more hype to this match-up. Hell a Friday night game in Saskatchewan is reason enough to get excited, it’s almost as rare as a winning season in Hamilton. Mosaic will be rockin’ (well I would advise against rocking those new temp stands, don’t see that ending well).

For the Riders this game will be a big test of how good we actually are. Last week’s victory was convincing but it was against a team with a whole host of concerns not the least of which is an O-line that could be improved by replacing the 5 players with a velvet rope. The Stamps are superior to the Esks in pretty much every facet so we had better up our performance accordingly.

Offensively we need to work on consistency. We opened with 2 text book TD drives last week but then went to sleep until sometime in the 3^rd. I doubt the Stamps will be as kind as the Esks in accommodating our dry spells. The Stamps shut down one of the better backs in Andrew Harris last week and you can bet they will be aiming to do the same with Sheets. We will need to get creative with how we get him the ball to keep him productive (swing passes, screens, quick dumps over the blitz etc..). We will also need to rely more on other options. Fortunately given how much we spread the ball around in Game 1, I like our chances. BC proved the Stamps can be passed on. Time for a big game from Dressler and hopefully Getzlaf can resume his Stamper Killer persona. Geroy Simon won’t play because his “lower body” is still injured. So glad we are paying him big bucks purely to endorse chips with a poorly thought out name.

The one major concern I have on offense is Ben Heenan vs. Charleston Hughes. Hughes just roughed up the best set of OTs in the CFL last week for 3 sacks and has historically had big games against us. Ben will need to step up his game even more and we should help him out with some extra support from RBs, FBs or chipping receivers. Or just run it down their throats lots so they can’t use their pass rush skills. Either way this is a key match-up.

Defensively, I’m encouraged by the fact that the Riders were the only team to play defense at all in week 1. That said going from shutting down the Esks to facing the Stamps is like KOing a boxer who is 2 weight classes lower than you and then facing someone your own size.

Obviously priority one is limiting Cornish. We all hate him and think he is an ass (both figuratively and literally) but there is no denying that he is a dangerous runner. This is where having 2 DBs as our outside LBs worries me. If I’m the Stamps, I would run it right at Butler and Brown until they prove they can stop it. Need a big push from the front 4 and Rey Williams to plug the right holes. Having Curious George back will be a big boost. As much as I would swear at him for it, a small part of we would like to see him headbutt Tate again. With the talent in our secondary, I would be inclined to man up the receivers and devote everything else to stopping the run… well technically Nik Lewis would need 2 DBs covering him be considered manned but I digress. Just don’t see Tate beating us through the air. Though he does have a talented enough set of receivers at his disposal to do so.

Honestly, I can’t tell you why, but I just don’t think Drew Tate is that good. Sure he’s had good games but I don’t think he’s that good and with a bit of adversity he’ll crumbled. So let’s give him adversity. Calgary is starting rookie Regina product Brett Jones at C and recently un-retired Dan Federkeil at tackle… the way our front 4 is playing you have to like that match-up. Would love to see George and Shologan tossing Jones around. We won’t dominate like against the Esks but we should still get pressure consistently. If we can limit Cornish (no small feat) and force Tate to air it our under duress, we will have success.

I’m also hoping a raucous home crowd will help fluster that idiot Tate. So a big key will be getting off to a quick start like last week to keep the crowd a factor the whole way through.

I think this game will be tightly contested but the difference maker will be the Stamps reliance on Cornish to drive their O vs. our ability to spread the ball around and get production from the likes of Scott McHenry. We will need a 4^th quarter comeback (and a defibrillator for me) but in the end…

Riders by a Durant rushing TD.

See you in the stands and if you still have a voice left come Saturday morning I will be very disappointed in you.

Are You Smarter Than A Toddler - Week 1 Results

Well, the boy certainly didn't lose any of his predicting skills over the offseason. He kicked off 2013 with a 3 point week. That means we are all likely in for a long season. I also got a 3 point week. Step Prophet, Momma Prophet and the Mrs. managed 2 points.

If you are already in on the contest, be sure to have your week 2 picks in by kickoff on Thursday. If you are not in yet, there is still time to join... just fire me an email and you are in.

Monday Morning Sentimonies: Happy Canada Day

I'll preface this post by saying that I just got back this afternoon from camping with the family all weekend. So not only will you be getting the standard Prophet stat-holiday half assed effort, it will be compounded by my "I just spent 4 days camping" half assed effort. You can at least take solace in the fact that what I lack in punctuality and writing quality, I make up for with brutal honesty.

Even though I think it was a miss for the CFL to not have a game on the Canada Day holiday Monday, I still thought it was great week of opening action... most important of which was the Riders stomping the Esks like we were Ndamukong Suh. I spent Saturday on a pontoon boat in the middle of a lake listening to the game on the radio (which was frickin' awesome by the way). So I have only heard how we played, I didn't actually see it (nor have I had the chance to re-watch the game). So if my thoughts are way off of what you saw just bear in mind that I was limited to an oral description (that may have been clouded by a few bevy's).

For me the offense lived up to a lot of the offseason hype I have been pumping since Cortez was hired. Just so many great things. We had a thunderously quick start, reminded my of how Montreal was under Trestman, just boom, scores right out of the gate. Good things happen when you jump on teams early like that. Solid, productive, turnover-free day for Durant. Also loved how we spread the ball around so much. Hell even Scott McHenry got in on the action. We limped along last year with Dressler as our only real threat but now we had a huge day and he was used pretty sparingly. The one play in particular I loved was the crosser to Smith for the TD. I have spent many years swearing profusely at Richie Hall for our inability to cover those so it was refreshing as hell for one of those to benefit us. Also kudos to George Cortez for returning Getzlaf to the the 3rd/4th receiving option which is the part he was born to play. He's been solid at all times in this young season.

I'm starting to think that this whole Kory Sheets saying he was out of shape last year might not just be him talking shit. He was a huge part of what we did on O. Really love how we can trust him enough to hand him the ball in the redzone and have faith that he will find paydirt (like on that 19 yd run). I wonder if he has a restraining order of 100 yards from whoever he got in that domestic with and we just keep telling him that she is getting close (oh like you expected anything but lowbrow humour from me). Hard to tell from radio but when out RB runs all over them and we allow just a solitary sack, I'll assume the O-line (which worried the hell out of me coming into the season) had a great game... against a pretty talented Esk front 4. I just assumed at this point in my Monday post I would be cursing Heenan and the decision to start him at tackle... guess I can hang onto that rant at least for a minute of 2.

Defense also had a very solid game, not allowing any real points until they'd stopped serving beer at Commonwealth. D-line had a big game (at least based on the stat lines and what I heard) though bear in mind that the Esks' O-line likely only ranks ahead of that of the REDBLACKS!!! at this point. That Rey Williams TD (off on of the more idiotic QB decisions I've seen... and I've watched Nealon Green, Michael Bishop AND Ryan Dinwiddie) was the knockout blow to the Esks, There was no coming back from that. The Esks leading rusher was the QB at just over 30 yards so run D must have been working. 

Hell about the only I didn't like on D was that douchebag Anderson's show. Now I didn't see what happened (though that didn't stop me from cursing like a sailor.... which I figure was very fitting as I was actually on a boat) but quite frankly I don't give a crap. If you take objectionable penalties and hurt our team then you are an idiot... let alone a guy with a history of this crap longer than Aaron Hernandez's list of charges. If these are the sort of antics we can expect from Anderson in a blowout game, then what the hell is he going to do in a game that is actually closely contested and stress filled. The only way to justify his presence on our roster is if his play is at a high enough level that it outweighs his crap... at this point, the crap side of the scale in weighed pretty damn heavy.

But I guess if the only negative coming out of your season opener is that Dwight Anderson is a douchebag (which isn't even news at this point) then that's a good sign. Riders will have to play a lot better this Friday against a far more talented Stamps team but based on what I've seen (or heard) so far I'm pretty damn happy.

Are You Smarter Than A Toddler - Week 1 Picks

Here are the Prophet family picks for week 1:

Prophet Jr. - Winnipeg, Toronto, Calgary, Saskatchewan
Rider Prophet - Montreal, Hamilton, Calgary, Saskatchewan
Mrs. Prophet - Montreal, Hamilton, BC, Saskatchewan
Step-Prophet - Montreal, Hamilton, BC, Saskatchewan
Momma Prophet - Montreal, Hamilton, Calgary, Edmonton

There is still time to get in on the contest just email your picks to riderprophet@hotmail.com. Full contest details can be found here. All you need to know is free to enter, cash prizes and child related gambling.