West Division Showdown: Riders vs. Lions

Happy Friday Rider fans. Prophet here gearing up for Sunday's big game in BC. On the line is a trip to Toronto to play for Earl Grey's cup (and I'm not talking about the tea).

I got the weekend started off on a good note this morning. I was a guest on CBC Radio's Morning Edition and squared off in a debate against a rabid BC Lions fan. He should really get that checked out. Anyway, big thanks to those of you who tuned in and listened. Try as they may to trash talk the Riders and land a knock-out punch, they were no match for the wit and intelligence of the Prophet. If you missed the debate, or would just like to listen again you can click here. I also took some video footage which I will post soon.

This game is big. How big you ask? Well on a scale of 1 to 10; 1 being Jason Jimenez' upcoming legal bill and 10 being Wally Buono's ego, this is a 9. Normally I would rate it higher, but nothing is bigger than Wally Buono's ego. In all seriousness though, I shouldn't say too much bad about Buono. I know how hard he's worked to get his cholesterol under control. Plus he is a master strategist - not just anyone could come up with the idea to punt on first down.

The key to winning in the playoffs is having someone step up and be a leader for the team. For the Riders, there's no question that Mr. MVP Kerry Joseph is our leader and he has shown the ability to lead the team to victory. For the Lions... I guess you've got Jarious Jackson with his wealth of playoff experience to draw on (most of which involves holding clipboards and running the 1 yard plunge). Or maybe Joe Smith... but then again he is facing the top run defense in the league which he never put up 100 yards against all season. Simon and Clermont are pretty good... but if you want to see how useful good receivers are when your QB struggles just watch last week's West-Semi. I guess that means it's up to the O-line to step up.

I can picture Wally's pre-game speech to Murphy, Haji-Rasouli and Jimenez going something like this: "Rob, don't choke ... unless it's someone in a green jersey. Sherko, we need you to help punch one in ... to Shultz's stomach. And Jason, well you just go out there and break a leg."

Some people don't like our chances given the fact that we have a rookie head coach. That may be true, but let's not forget that we've got the same coaches on the offensive side of the ball that led the Argos to a win in the East final in the Big O a few years back, so there's no question our guys will be ready for the noise. Also, Austin has Grey Cup rings both as a player and a coach, and he knows what it takes to succeed at the highest level.

I predict that it will be a very close game with the Riders winning by 5 on a Kerry Joseph rushing TD. This will be a change of pace for BC people: Usually they smoke the green, but this Sunday the green will be smoking them.