I Never Lost Faith!

Like many of you, I stood in a state of disbelief as the Riders had the Grey Cup yanked from their grasp last November in Calgary. It left a mark. Soon after I said this team would take a page from the Edmonton Oilers after the Steve Smith episode. They would get back to the Grey Cup, they would play the Alouettes and they would take what was theirs one year later. I have been saying all year the Riders would be in the Grey Cup and yes my confidence level did waver a little bit during that losing streak, but I never ever did not think this team would go to the Grey Cup. They will go to Edmonton next week and they will beat the Alouettes. This 100th season will be a magical one.

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Here are some thoughts from the 20-16 win



1)Will the Stampeders ever learn that their cockiness just kills them. Nice job Romby Bryant on getting that 15 yard taunting call. Yes, it was one of those iffy calls, but if you just go back to the huddle and shut up it never happens. You sir, get a Wiser's clap for being the dumbass of the day. The runners-up for that award would definitely go to Brandon Browner and Dwight Anderson who apparently both took the defeat in "gentlemanly" style.

2) Jerrell Freeman doesn't have to worry about buying a meal or a drink anytime soon. His hustle on that muffed Ryan Grice-Mullen punt was the play of the year as far as I'm concerned. Freeman saved Grice-Mullen from leaving town on a rail-car. As many in our media will tell you because I said it at practice, the one thing that scared me going into this game was having Grice-Mullen fumble a punt at a key time. Please put Weston Dressler back there next week! On a side note, how many of you soiled your underwear as that ball was being batted back towards the Riders goal line.

3) Would Cary Koch have had a chance at being the CFL rookie of the year had he played all year? If Rob Bagg didn't get hurt, would we know how good Koch is? What a catch he made at the end of the first half for that touchdown.

4)The cold seemed to affect the Stampeders more than it did the Riders which didn't surprise me. Henry Burris didn't seem like Henry Burris. He seemed to be content being a pocket passer. When he is like that, its advantage for the other team.

5) Wes Cates continues to prove that he can get it done.

6)Chris Getzlaf deserves a lot more ink than he currently gets. Having Andy Fantuz and Weston Dressler will take away his deserved place in the spotlight, but tell me that any CFL team wouldn't love having Getzlaf on their team. Kudos to Eric Tillman for getting him as a throw-in in the Corey Holmes trade in 2007.

7)Any and all talk of Ken Miller being too old and that he needs to go can simply go. Ken Miller is a great coach who I think outcoached John Hufnagel on Sunday. Miller will have his team ready to play Montreal next week and if the team can keep track of how many guys are on the field, they will win.



As always, your comments are more than welcome.

Lets just end this posting with this.