Monday Morning Sentimonies: What Did We Learn?

Riders 55 – Bombers 10

So apparently Michael Bishop’s vow following the Labour Day Classic that the Bombers were “going to kick their asses” was about as accurate a prediction as most of his pass attempts. Also, Mike Kelly’s claim that “Our team is as good as they are” was about as good of an assessment as the one he made about Stephan LeFors ability to be a starting QB.

But those weren't the only lessons learned during the Banjo Bowl Massacre of ’09. Here are a few more…

• Michael Bishop is comically terrible… not that we didn’t already know that but I feel as though his 9 of 20 for 98 yds and 2 picks performance deserved special mockery.
• Sadly, Bishop is by far the Bombers’ best QB… as evidenced by Bryan Randall getting picked off on his first pass attempt and going on to complete as many passes to Riders as he did to Bombers.
• The Bombers must be kicking themselves for releasing Jason Armstead before the season because he would have been by far their best option at QB (what a throw!)
• Andy Fantuz is back. As nice as that toss from Armstead was, it really should have been an INT if it weren’t for Fantuz ripping it out of the defenders hands.
• The reverse to Brock Ralph still has yet to work… but I guess they say persistence pays off eventually.
• Darian Durant just keeps improving. I really think that him spending the bye week in the film room will turn out to be the turning point of his season.
• Turns out we can score in the 3^rd quarter… and we’re still undefeated when we do so
• Rob Bagg is awesome… just wish his first name was Travis or something so I could coin the phrase “You’ve been T Bagged!”
• Our patchwork O-line seems to have finally gelled. They gave up no sacks and powered a strong running attack by Wes Cates.
• Our defense is now firing on all cylinders… in particular John Chick, Sean Lucas and Lance Frazier.
• The flash cards that the Bombers used this week were not any more effective than the whiteboards used last week in terms of helping the offense execute plays. Wonder what they will try next? Lite Brite? Spirograph?

The win leaves the Riders in a first place tie with the Stampeders at 6-4. It’s really too bad that Winnipeg wasn’t still in the West because I would love to see Michael Bishop embarrass himself a couple more times. Oh well, you’ve gotta be happy with a dominating win but let’s remember that it came against one of the worst teams in the CFL. The real test will come over our next 3 games, which are against western opponents. For now though continue basking in a strong showing by the Riders and comical embarrassment by the Bombers.