Monday Morning Senitmonies: I’m Back

Riders 22 - Stamps 21

Ladies and Gentlemen the Rider Prophet is back. I enjoyed my time off . Did a little camping, went on a canoe trip, made the trip to Calgary for a very memorable game (which I will get to in a minute) and even squeezed in a Weird Al concert (which was awesome for the record). Thanks to Media Consultant for running things in my absence. Rather than comment on anything Media Consultant posted while I was away, I will just suggest you re-read the disclaimer I posted before I left as it pretty much covers things. But I’m back so let’s get down to business.

What a game! Yet again the Riders pulled out another exciting win. And yet again the tension of the final minutes of the game took another 3-4 years off my life expectancy (which wasn‘t that long to begin with).

The air was electric as an army of green descended on McMahon Stadium to watch the undefeated Riders take on the arch-rival Stampeders. The Riders did everything they had to early - they shut down Burris and the high powered Stamp offense and they put up points en route to a 21-7 lead at the half. The 2nd half was a different story though. The Stamp O got it going and ours petered out. Though to be fair a big reason for our poor offensive output late in the game was the fact that we were too busy trying to figure out what plays we could run that didn't have any receivers in them. But credit the Riders for not giving up, especially the defense who came up big yet again, most notably on the stuff on 3rd and 1. For the record, the hand-off to the RB on 3rd and 1 is dumbest play in football (fortunately for us Calgary would tend to disagree).

In the end it wasn’t a pretty win, but when when time expired we were still undefeated… and not just the metaphorical undefeated like the .500 Stampeders, the actual undefeated as in 6 and 0.

Once again the win came at a high cost as Dominguez (knee), Hughes (fractured fibia), Parenteau (knee) and Berman (blown achilles) all went down to injury. Add this to a list that already includes Durant, Flick, Fantuz, Acree, Getzlaf, McCoy, January, Mitchell, Johnson, Dressler and Chick. I honestly think we had fewer talented players in the entire 1990s than we currently have on our injured list.

As a result of the never-ending string of injuries to our receivers I recommend coach Miller institute a new policy banning YAC yards. From now on when any receiver makes a catch they should immediately drop to the ground and assume the fetal position. I would also recommend throwing only to the sidelines in an effort to further reduce risk. It may not be the most effective offensive plan but at least we might be able to make it through a game without losing a receiver.

What’s with all the injuries you ask? My theory is that Tillman has decided that he is so much smarter than every GM in the league and no longer feels challenged and has decided to secretly remove calcium from the players’ diet to make things more interesting for himself.

I would like to end by briefly commenting on the Stampeder fans. Some of you are very good natured and very intelligent when it comes to football. Unfortunately you are not in the majority. From beaking Rider fans despite being down 2 TDs at half, to wearing Flames shirts to the game, to requiring an announcer to tell you when to cheer. I haven’t seen a such collection of morons since they tried to resolve the last NHL lockout. But my personal favourite was hearing “Riders Suck” chants as I left the stadium. Now I realize that I have a severely biased opinion when it comes to the Riders but how on earth can you say the defending Grey Cup Champs who are still undefeated, suck? Especially after they just beat you. Man if we suck and just beat you, that must mean the Stampeders are the worst team in the West Division… oh wait, that’s exactly what they are.

Enjoy the win while you can Rider fans, because we do it all again on Thursday.

We took some pictures from our Calgary road trip. So check back tomorrow for my photo journal from Calgary.

I’m the Rider Prophet and those are my sentimonies.