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Monday, August 31, 2015

Something to "Mitch" About

Disgusting, embarrassing, revolting.  What other words can you use to describe the performance of the green and white in Ottawa?   I could sit here and talk about it, but my Twitter feed blew up as the afternoon went on so let's have some of the tweets and comments that came my way make its way to this blog, and I have to say I really can't disagree with any of this.

From 620 CKRM Rider analyst Mike McCullough:  I'm angry, The decision to change QB was ridiculous. Didn't we go through this last year? Tino wasn't the guy last year and he's not the guy this year. I don't get it? Guys didn't quit but its blow to their confidence

From 620 CKRM pre-game and call in show host Michael Ball:  I will be shocked if Corey Chamblin is on the sidelines for next week's game

From former Riders slotback Jeff Fairholm: Very embarrassing loss and someone needs to be accountable.

From Carolyn:  I feel in this one game that Chamblin has irreparably damaged the team and they weren't damaged before this.

From Darren: I know that CC has received the brunt of #RiderNation hatred tonight but what about the questionable play calling of Chapdelaine? #Brutal  AND 
In Italian "Tino Sunseri" means "To take a sack or loss of yardage".

From the anonymous tweeter known as Fake Gainer: Tino Sunseri. He's just not ready. #PaidforbytheSmithkatchewan party.

It was a game the Riders could have had won after a terrible start. The defense came out and had a horrible start, but the team was in control until Brett Smith threw the interception in the endzone. It is the growing pains you endure as a rookie quarterback cutting his teeth in the CFL. It is not a play where you pull him to put in a guy who has constantly failed when he has gone in, and a guy that for some reason was brought back after he was sent packing.  We will never know what would have happened if Smith stays in, but the fortunes of the team sagged as soon as that change was made. Did Chamblin lose the team when that call was made? You saw the second half!  The decision is inexplicable. You can't justify that decision especially when other players whether it be a veteran or rookie have made bad decisions this season.  You just can't.  There is word Smith and Chamblin may have had an exchange of words as Corey did admit after the game Smith did not handle the move well. I would think Smith should ask some questions after that. It shows that competitive fire.  Once again, I thought Smith showed a lot including a picture perfect pass to Naaman Roosevelt. I also thought he ran one in and was surprised to see no challenge come forth. The future is Brett Smith and not Tino Sunseri. I think that is crystal-clear!

The playcalling was also questionable when you don't give Jerome Messam the football---especially at the one instead of letting Tino dance around and get sacked. I have no clue why he doesn't get the ball more than he does.  He is a horse so use him like one. Former Riders running back Kory Sheets is adamant that is the problem with the offence and he is throwing his knife at Jacques Chapdelaine.

The sad thing is while the microscope falls on the play of the offence, it was the defence again in the first quarter that seemingly came out unprepared and left the team with a big hole to climb out of. Their performance on the first drive was less than inspiring and put Smith in catch-up mode right away.

Until "the decision" was made, the Riders were within one score of Ottawa featuring a roster that had 11 rookies or first year players on it and a team with 18 players out of the lineup because they are on the 6 game injury list. A team that is very inexperienced was right there, and has been right there all year only to kill themselves with stupidity. The building blocks are there and what is short term pain right now could very well end  up being long-term gain. The question now is who will be in charge of leading these youngsters as the team moves forward. It is safe to say after this one, there will be some meetings if they weren't already had Sunday night. I really feel sorry for new president and CEO Craig Reynolds because a dream job has turned into a nightmare and we are only at the halfway point of the season. His head must be spinning!

Other odds and ends:

If Corey Chamblin is the coach, talk has surfaced that fans boycott the start of next Sunday's game against Winnipeg. That isn't going to solve anything folks as much as you think it will or send some kind of message.  You can sit there and feel the team has embarrassed itself with what transpired Sunday and that's fine, but don't embarrass the most passionate fan base in the CFL by doing that and making this grease-fire even bigger.  Someone even threw in a tweet about fertilizing Chamblin's driveway much the way Paul McCallum's did many years ago. That tweet got some swift negative response as it should have. The Rider fanbase is a lot better than that. The frustration is obvious, but be realistic with what steps should be taken.

After what we saw from the Bombers and Riders this weekend, do we still call it a Labour Day Classic? The only difference between the two teams this weekend was Winnipeg did their thing at home.

I am looking forward to seeing the back-to-back battles between the Eskimos and Stampeders. Calgary might be in for a shock.

What the Toronto Blue Jays did to the Detroit Tigers this weekend was highly impressive, but the New York Yankees did the same thing to the Atlanta Braves and the Braves have a much better pitching staff than what Detroit trotted out at Rogers Centre. Seeing a piece of Canadiana come forth when Edwin Encarnacion had the homer hat-trick by throwing hats on the field was a cool sight to see.  Make no doubt about it, Toronto is on the top of their game, but there is still a month and a couple of days to go. Anything can happen!

Kids go back to school on Tuesday so for the love of god, slow down!  The amount of speeders in this city is absolutely ridiculous and we don't need some little boy or girl getting smacked on the first day of school or any day of school because some idiot has somewhere to go and says damn the rules when it comes to putting the pedal down.

The US College Football season and the Canadian college football season started this weekend. but you wouldn't know it watching Canada's two sports networks. It is just a joke that TSN and Sportsnet would rather give us Premier League Soccer. Cabbie Presents, top 10's and wrestling re-runs instead of bringing Canadians football from both sides of the border. I am guessing that will change next weekend when the NCAA season really gets going, but we won't see diddly when it comes to Canadian college ball. CBC could even get involved with CIS football, but they don't.  The CIS deserves more exposure than both semi-finals and the Vanier Cup. It is ridiculous the networks don't promote Canadian college football because it is a product that should be showcased.

Speaking of Sportsnet, they had a discussion about who should be on Team Canada for the 2016 World Cup of Hockey  using analytics and then brought up numbers. I realize analytics is the new "it" thing in sports, but talent wins and not numbers.  I could care less about shots per shift. What I want is the best lineup possible. It won't be an easy decision deciding who plays and who doesn't, but don't make decisions on numbers and not talent.

Still with Sportsnet, the feature they had on Dave Stieb's no-hitter was fabulous. I don't know if Sportsnet has the ability to show great Jays games from the past and I know that game was a CTV telecast so perhaps they don't, but I would love to see Sportsnet show great games from the past to give today's generation a chance to see  how good the Alomars, the Fernandezs, the Bells and the Carters were amongst others.  While talking about no-hitters, thank you Jake Arrieta! The Cubs righty was absolutely dominant in beating the Dodgers. That was the perfect thing to watch after the Riders game!

Can we just have the Saskatoon Hilltops and Regina Thunder play a best of nine to determine the PFC champ?  Once again, these two teams are head and shoulders above everyone else and one sided scores this weekend proved that.

Brian Harman didn't get one hole in one Sunday at the Barclays. He got two!! Cmon Brian, share the wealth for god's sake. I guess he did because he sent 300 beers and a bottle of Crown Royal for everyone after. I wonder what the tab on that is?

Speaking of 300 beers and a bottle of Crown, that could take us right back to the Rider Nation and their state of mind couldn't it. SIGHHHHHH!!!!

That's all I got. Have a good week!!!









                                                


26 comments:

Anonymous said...

I have been a Chamblin supporter, but that mess yesterday is all on him and he remains unaccountable. It is time for him to leave!

Jason

Anonymous said...

You are right about fan protests, but lets hope the organization does what is best and removes Chamblin asap

Anonymous said...


This has gotten so bad it makes me wonder if Brent Parker is secretly running the show.

Guys have made mistakes from day 1 and have not been held accountable and now you pull a young QB for making one. Just dumb, just ridiculous.

I will be staying at the lake instead of coming back in for the LD game. I want to enjoy my last weekend of summer.


Anonymous said...

The logic he used at halftime saying "he was benched because we were in a position to put points on the board" doesn't wash because Bagg took a penalty and took a TD OFF the board. Why wasn't he benched??

I have been a CC supporter. But I think his time has come but it scares the life out of me to think Jacques Chap will be the next head coach.

Corey did a wonderful job putting in coaches with little or no experience around him. Funny how that works.

Anonymous said...

Rider talk aside, I completely aggree with you on the topic of speeding.

This 18-34 demographic riding their big old truck think they are indestructible when behind the wheel and away they go. Go down the Ring Road on a Saturday afternoon and you will see that. I had some a-hole go ripping down Rochdale Boulevard last night around 7 and he had to be going 80. If some kid or adult steps out and doesn't see this guy bearing down on him. Its all over.

As far as Riders go, new blood is needed. Taman is bringing in talent, but Chamblin is killing it and the Brett Smith proved that. He must go as the gameplaning for 2016 now must start.

CS

Anonymous said...


I don't think Sheets is too far off the mark with his assessment. I can't comprehend why you wouldn't give a workhorse running back like Messam the ball 15-20 times to take the pressure off a rookie QB. That falls right on Chapduhhhhhhlain as far as I'm concerned.

Good read today bud!


Gerry

Anonymous said...

Mitchell, your cred has been completely lost for your defense of CC all season long. I think your next post should be a long apology explaining why you thought we were all idiots, and you were the god sent smartest football person in the 306.

It should start with "Rider Nation, I'm sorry. I was wrong"

Mark

Anonymous said...

Chapdelaine was coaching CIS for a reason. Should have left him there. He has proven his time is up in the CFL. Stubborn like his HC too !! (Or maybe Corey is calling the plays on that side of the ball too???)

75flyersbestteamever said...

I would think that Coach C. now is auditioning for his next potential job... This one is gone at year end or sooner. How he stick handles through this mess will show other organizations (college or pro) what kind of Coach they would be getting when things go rough.

Re: speeders...came back from holiday and was passed quickly on Hwy #3 (single lane) by a pickup pulling a 26' trailer....and I'm rolling at 110 kms. He's rolling 120 at least....
....John Wayne once said "Life is hard...it's harder when you're stupid"

Anonymous said...

I have been a Chamblin supporter as well. My green color glasses looked at injuries, penalties and bad luck for our record. After watching this game Chamblin is more interested in playing 'Who's the Boss" ie Roy Shivers, then making the required changes. Sunseri are you serious! I believe Chamblin stamped his ticket out of town yesterday.

Anonymous said...
This comment has been removed by a blog administrator.
Anonymous said...

I'm all for the torches and pitchforks, and running Chamblin out of town on a rail...but how does the O-line not get any heat at all this morning for giving up 10 sacks? Injuries, immobile QB and such all add up for sure, but Smith was running for his life early too before Labatte went down. They were putrid, and if it wasn't for Smithgazi, they'd be getting a lot more heat, which they deserve.

KC

Anonymous said...

Why the negativity about the Jays?? Who gives a shit what the Yankees did against Atlanta - the Braves are terrible. "there is still a month to go, anything can happen" Its like you want the Jays to start losing. Give your head a shake Scruffy. Get on the Jays Bandwagon - we will squeeze a cheek for ya and fit you in.

Anonymous said...

Sunday's game to kick off September would be better called the "Toilet Bowl". The Riders need to get a jump on finding a coach for 2016 as Winnipeg will also be firing all their coaches at year end (as may BC).

Anonymous said...

GO YANKEES!!!! SCREW THE JAYS!!

I can't wait for all these bandwagon hoppers to crawl back under their rock when Toronto fails at the end.


Anonymous said...

KC:

It is fairly evident the team gave up once Smith was taken out. Did anyone notice on the final Ottawa TD John Chick was playing MLB? Someone needs to explain that!


Rob


Anonymous said...

Crawl under the rock when Toronto fails at the end.....hahahahahahaha.....have you seen the Jays offense? No team in baseball can compete with that. Yankees will be lucky to keep a wild card spot.

Anonymous said...

No word yet, it is 11:15. What the hell are they waiting for?

#firechamblin

Anonymous said...

Reading McCormick, Pedersen and you, it would seem as if the bloom has fallen off the rose when it comes to Chamblin. Do they have any other choice after what happened yesterday. The more he stays, the deeper the hole they have dug themselves gets.

Adam

Anonymous said...

@ Mark;

I totally agree with your comment.

Maybe Mitch and Rod could co-write the apology.



Bewildered

Marc said...

Why is Chamblin still our coach and Taman still our GM. The board needs to walk in Taman's office and say it is you or him. Then when Taman finally fires Chamblin the board needs to fire Taman then beg Lapo to come to Regina and let him pick his coaching staff and players next year. If we don't do something now the seats will be empty by end of year. RIDER NATION needs to yell fire the coach at the game this weekend!!!!! The embarrassment ended almost 20 hours ago, fire them already. Neither one of them should have survived the bye week

Anonymous said...

I don't know who the new coach will be in 2016, but make Chapelain the coach right now and when this season is over, get rid of everyone and start anew. Chapelain won't use Messam, the defense is horrible and yada yada yada. The only positive this year has been special teams, but someone needs to tell this kid its OK to forsake a single if you hem a team out of bounds at the 5.

Anonymous said...

Reynolds must be in a fetal position under his desk by now crying for his Mommy!

WOW!!!!

Anonymous said...

To the eternal Jays optimist. Teams go on losing streaks. Yes, it looks good now, but would it look that way if they lost 4 or 5 in a row. It can happen. Don't start counting your chickens yet!

PS: GO BALTIMORE!!!

Scruffy, that Cubs pitcher was outstanding last night, but it was the Dodgers (2nd time they have been no hit in 8 days)

Anonymous said...

It is 3:20 and there has been no announcement?

Are Reynolds and company trying to kill this team once and for all. WHAT ARE THEY WAITING FOR?


Rick

Anonymous said...


The insertion of Tino Sunseri may have been the stupidest thing I have seen from a professional football coach in years.