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Happy Friday or adequate Friday... whichever you prefer.
Another relatively slow week in Riderville. And by that I mean we only signed half a dozen guys, cut one person and lost another fan favourite to a rival team (though in Getzalf's case the crowd is decidedly split). In most offseasons this would constitute a crazy week. This year, it barely registers on the scale.
I wanted to take this opportunity to remind you that the #MascotSoccerAtMosaic campaign continues. Please continue to spread your demands for Mascot Soccer around the interwebs and to the Riders. In the coming week just replace the time you spent watching curling with campaigning for Mascot Soccer.
I also have another opportunity for audience participation (which is definitely not just me passing my work on to you in a clever attempt to work less). In the spirit of the Farewell Season I will being doing a series of posts on my favourite memories at Mosaic. I would like to include reader memories in that series so if you have a favourite game, play, shenanigans in the stands etc... that will forever be etched in your memory please send it to me. You can either leave it in the comments section or email me RiderProphet at gmail.
Lastly since this is a football blog, I guess I should make some effort to comment on the football ongoings. Regular readers will know that I am very happy with the Hasan Hazime signing. I had him on my radar from the beginning of free agency. Adds great Canadian depth to the D-line and I think he still has the potnetial to develop into a more regular contributor on D.
As for Getzlaf, I can tell you that Mrs Prophet is ecstatic. As for me, I kind of saw it coming. Given that stupid "highest paid WR in the league" contract that Getzlaf was coming off of, everything boiled down to the size of paycut he was willing to accept. When you add a steady string of injuries to the mix I think we may have offered less than league minimum if it were allowed. Look, when healthy Getzlaf can be one of the top Cdn WR's (the stats show that) but his inconsistent hands and inconsistent health while being the wrong side of 30 would scare off a lot of GMs. Esks may get some solid produciton out of him but they may also have to hope that Bowman and Getzlaf can snag the passes they will each be dropping.
5 comments:
Is Mrs. Prophet that big an anti-Getzlaf person?
Yeah she's been anti-getzlaf for years. I don't know exactly why it started because it was during his productive years. Generally my hatreds at least have a basis on performance. The funny thing is she had him on her fantaseh team like every year. She kept trying to get rid of him but ended up keeping him every year because it's all she had
Another former Grey Cup Champ thrown under the bus by Jones. Let it be known there is no loyalty in Riderville to core players. In 3 years when Jones moves on the Riders will be back to ground zero and restarting another rebuild, but will any new talent come to be the new Rider core?
Meanwhile the Eskimos look like they are more personnel friendly, releasing players and coaches to chase the next phase of their career and not burning bridges just in case personnel want to return. If anyone thinks this doesn't make the Eskimos more attractive to rookie talent they are sadly mistaken.
Anon - I don't see Getz as being thrown under the bus. He is the wrong side of 30, has not been able to be healthy consistently for 2 seasons and was grossly overpaid. Most GM's would have done the same in Jones' shoes.
As for loyalty, all this shows is that Jones has no loyalty to the previous regimes core players. He is loyal to "his" guys and it shows in the number of them that follow him when he moves. Also, our last coach routinely threw his players under the bus last season so I doubt Jones will rank lower in the likability department.
I do wish that guys like Chick, Dressler and Getzlaf could have had a more honourable end to their Rider careers. They are legends in this franchise and poured their soul into the team. But Jones' primary goal is winning games not making people feel good. I will judge his Rider tenure by his record not by how he goes about tearing down and rebuilding a last place team.
Also, if Jones leaves then there is a clear succession plan with John Murphy to keep the recruiting going.
Prophet, interesting that Getz wins the Grey Cup's Most Valuable Canadian in 2013 and in two short seasons some fans consider him expendable, because has been injured. Yet these same fans celebrate the signing of Chambers who too was the Grey Cup's Most Valuable Canadian with his whopping 48 yards and missed almost an entire season in the last two as well. I don't see a difference other than one is a proven commodity and the other is largely unproven. If they both get 500 or less yards this season, was there point to throwing a loyal solider away for a younger weaker version?
Doesn't the treatment of Getz a guy who bleed Green and White along with Chick and Dressler send the wrong message or are memories so short that nobody remembers a time when it was hard to attract talent to Regina?
Will Rider fans say it is all good three years from now when they are going through another rebuild? Well maybe they like reliving the boom and bust cycle, but only if cups come with it, just ask Chamblin. Then again this is the second coming of the Don, so it could be more bust than boom if egos get too out of control. The gambler Jones is high risk and high reward kind of guy, but it doesn't always pan out for him.
Didn't The Don bring "his guys" in 1991 only to go from 9-9 (1990) to 6-12 (1991) then back to 9-9 (1992) and then finally finishing 3rd in the West again with an 11-7 (1993) only to jump ship and take a job down south. Two years later the Riders were in rebuild mode with a 6-12 (1995).
Since you are the Phrophet, I am sure you can see history repeating itself with the Disciple of the Don and yet your vision seems to be blurred with hopeful optimism. People are fooling themselves if they can't see that Jones will jump and take everyone, Murph, Coaches, Players that he can when he takes the next opportunity most likely down south where the real money is. Two maybe three years an if the gamble doesn't pay off it is see ya and mushroom cloud for the Riders, with nobody wanting to come to Regina again.
The Riders are all in on this one, either it is championships and a boom nationally or they get a 3 of clubs on the river and bust.
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