A Moral Victory Still Equals A Loss

Give credit to the Riders. They gave Montreal a football game when not many thought they would. In fact, its a football game they could have won and maybe should have won. One can only imagine how this game turns if
1)The Riders score when they had the ball at the one yard line. By the way, was I the only one who knew the ball was going to Wes Cates on 3rd down and why is Chris Szarka on the field if he is going to block on the wing when the ball is going up the gut?
2)Mike McCullough intercepts the Anthony Calvillo pass deep in Montreal's end
3)John Chick hits Calvillo in the endzone about a half second quicker
4)They somehow eliminate the 3rd quarter. This has gotten beyond ridiculous
5)Eric Morris isn't called for facemasking on the Weston Dressler punt return in the 4th quarter
6)Keith Shologan recovers Calvillo's fumble in the 4th. Yes by the way they did rule it a fumble with a Montreal recovery.

Darian Durant threw three interceptions, but I thought he was solid. The 3rd interception was a bad one at a bad time, but I thought he made more good plays than bad.
Weston Dressler was unbelievable! Did Duane Forde call him "The Baby-Face Assassin". I like that!!!
The defence still allows too many big runs, but they shut down that Montreal offence for the most part. I don't have the exact numbers in front of me but I don't think the TD drives were long drives as Montreal had great field possession to start those drives.
There is nothing special about the Rider special teams. Kavis Reed has to be one frustrated man.

Bottom line is there were many positives, but the Riders lose and are now 4-4. No one is running away with the West and while a loss isn't palatable, it is not the end of the world. Many of the guys are getting out of Dodge for a week, but I'm guessing the coaching staff will be working hard(and maybe rockin out to AC/DC on Monday)trying to iron out the problems they have. The biggest one of course being how to score some points in the 3rd quarter.
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As for the other game on Friday, I didn't see that one coming and I'm guessing either did many of you. Some of you may have thought Winnipeg could beat B.C----but I'm guessing none of you thought it would be by 27 in B.C Place. I honestly thought this could be the end for Mike Kelly after the Stefan Lefors incident, but this team got its act together. Fred Reid runs for 261 yards and Winnipeg walks out of Vancouver embarassing the Lions who now get Montreal back to back. Could they be 3-7 by mid September? I can already hear some in the Rider Nation wondering what Fred Reid could do to a Rider defence that has its difficulties stopping the run.
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Brett Favre gets a hero's reception in Minneapolis as he makes his Vikings debut and then goes 1 for 4 in brief action. Whatever! I guess its true that you don't cheer for the player, but for the uniform. I have had two friends of mine who are Vikings fan who absolutely hated this guy now saying they can live with him being a Viking and that it looks good on Green Bay. Puh-leeze!!!! You hated this guy for many years and you hated him when he was a Jet, but now that he's on your team you love him and will continue to do so until he throws that crucial INT that costs them a game or he doesn't deliver on a Super Bowl. Lets just put it this way...I would be hating life if Tony Romo was quarterbacking the Seahawks. I would be hating life if Darcy Tucker had been traded from Toronto to Edmonton, I would hate having to see Sandro De Angelis wearing a Riders uniform. Just because the guy is wearing your colours doesn't mean you can go from despising him to loving him. Not in my books! I can't wait to see what Viking fans are saying in December. He will let you down and when he does, don't go back to hating him because its way too late.
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Dany Heatley remains a douchebag. He didn't like his role thus he wants out. Suck it up big boy. You think you're the only guy whose role changes during a year. If I were the Senators, I would just let this guy rot. If I was Hockey Canada, I would not want this guy infecting the dressing room nor would I want him wearing the Maple Leaf in Vancouver at the Olympics. There are many good hockey players in this country...ones that have a better attitude than Heatley. His stupidity almost cost him his career and did claim the career and much more of a teammate. While this situation is obviously less severe, his stupidity is costing him again. For all I care, this guy can go to Europe or the KHL and never, ever come back.
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