Ken Miller is a quiet man, but he knows his stuff. He has a monumental task in front of him, but he is more than confident that he can get it done. He started that process Sunday when he got back onto Taylor Field to guide "the men" and start getting them ready for the Labour Day Classic and the Banjo Bowl. It was in Miller's first scrum of the year with the local media that you saw the man was more than ready to wield what he hopes is a magic wand---one that will erase the first half misery that everyone connected with the Riders has been feeling and replace it one with excitement and hope.
Do I think Miller can turn this season around? Yeah, I do! He is probably the only one who can. Do I think he can get this team to the Grey Cup and win it which is what he said when re-assuming the coaches role? I'm not sure. I'm not betting against Miller because I know he has what it takes, but the effort or lack of it by the players this year has been shocking. Can they pick it up and play to the championship level they are capable of. We will find out over the next couple of weeks, but Miller is going to try and motivate the guys in only the way he knows how. He gave us some insight during that first media scrum.
Shortly after it started, Miller informed us all about a bulletin board in the Riders dressing room that now has Grey Cup 2011 decals on it just to remind the team what the ultimate goal is. However, what really struck me was the quiet and subtle way that he let us know what the message is. He told the media there are 13 games left in the season. A mathematician will tell you that in an 18 game season when the team has played 8 games that there are just 10 games left. However, if you add the Western semi-final, the Western final and the Grey Cup, it adds to 13 and Miller is bound and determined that his second stint as Riders coach will last 13 games. It will be interesting to see if the players buy into that and say 10 games or 13 as the week wears on. Whether they do or not, it is clear that there is an excitement level again that wasn't seen under Greg Marshall's watch.
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I'm finding the results of this week's poll question to be interesting. While a lot of you (including me see this team winning six of its final 10 (regular season games that is), a lot of you think the team's fortunes won't change and that wins will be few and far between. Have you become that disillusioned with this year's squad? I can understand that feeling, but I think its a little misguided. What I do know is that Mosaic Stadium should be rather electric on Sunday afternoon when they kick the ball off in the LDC with nearly 30-thousand people hoping some of the swagger is taken out of Swaggerville.
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With the NFL lockout, it was tough to find an NFL preview magazine this year. "Pro Football Weekly" usually has a great yearbook on store shelves along with a fantasy mag as well. I have not seen the yearbook in Regina at all this year and while I did see a fantasy mag in Lloydminster, I thought I could easily buy one in Regina. WRONG!!! I'm not going into fantasy drafts cold as I know who is who, but the book is a great addition. There has to be one somewhere in this city. If you have seen one, let me know where.
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Shania Twain is 46???!!!
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The Black Eyed Peas are holding a benefit concert in Minot next weekend to help victims of the flooding. The Black Eyed Peas??!! Fergie's husband is actor Josh Duhamel and he is from Minot. I didn't know that, did you?
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Some Rider fans will tell you the team has won without Andy Fantuz before so why all the hubbub over what will be a failed NFL stint. They ask if Calgary is talking incessantly about Brandon Browner and if BC is talking about Emanuel Arceneaux. No they are not, but this is the Riders and we know here that we keep an eye on what those who have left are doing. Yes, we still talk about John Chick too, but he isn't coming back.
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I don't know what is worse. Seahawks quarterback Tarvaris Jackson or the offensive line he plays behind. Both are putrid and that is being kind. I don't know if Peyton Manning or Tom Brady could make an impact behind this porous o-line. If the Seahawks win more than four, this fan will be pleasantly surprised.
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I am convinced Regina native and Seahawks punter Jon Ryan wants to be the next NFL spokesperson for Head and Shoulders. Is he getting hair tips from Troy Polamulu?!
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If you saw UFC 134 last nite, one of the last fights featured a guy by the name of Ian Loveland. Loveland had a mammoth tattoo of a fish on his back. A fish!!! Some get tiger tattoos or a lion, but this guy had a fish! I'm sorry, you bring absolutely no fear to me when you are marking your body with some type of fish. Please!!! Oh yeah, he lost!
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A guy went speeding past me on the Ring Road today. A couple of KM's up the road, I laughed when I saw the guy pulled over by one of Regina's finest at a speed trap. Mwah ha ha ha!!!!
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Tell the truth, would you rather deal with something like Hurricane Irene or a good old fashioned Saskatchewan winter blizzard? Believe it or not, I would take the blizzard as you can get rid of the snow, but the water is a different story and when it leaves, it leaves a big mess behind. I guess all I would have to do is ask the fine people in Estevan and Weyburn about that.
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The fall TV sked needs to start soon. There is absolutely nothing on. The old PS3 has had a lot of work lately because of this.
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If you are diagnosed as a kleptomaniac, what do you take to cure it?
4 comments:
Listened to the Miller interview and that "13 games" thing never even clicked in. Gramps (as Frazier called him) still haas some tricks up his sleeve.
TK
Shania is 46 and lookin good!!
you take whatever you can get your hands on!!!
I'd rather deal with a DQ blizzard myself....
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