Something To "Mitch" About

They were jumping for joy at Mosaic on Sunday afternoon and why not!

The Riders somehow found a way to beat the Ottawa REDBLACKS 35-32 in an overtime thriller in front of a sold out crowd in what was one of two very good football games I witnessed this weekend and a third that I watched when I got  home from Mosaic.

Just some thoughts from what I witnessed Sunday

--Thank you very much to the Kansas City Chiefs. Your inability to see how good of a football player Weston Dressler is and how much more he brings to a room was tremendous news to the Saskatchewan Roughriders. Dressler's return to Regina has seen this team, with the exception of the Hamilton game, go to another level. His performance Sunday was out of this world and his 60 yard catch for a touchdown is in my mind, the CFL play of the year and one of the best plays of 2014.

--No fan can complain about the officiating yesterday. The Dressler TD should not have counted because of contacting the kicker. How do the zebras miss that? I swear to god refs at High Impact Wrestling and the WWE would have a better handle on things at times.

--That being said, how could other teams who could use the services of Dressler down south not take a chance on him after he was released by the Chiefs.

--Whatever Corey Chamblin said at the half, it worked. Even Coach C was a little embarrassed at game's end when asked what he said. He really wouldn't go into a lot of details, but a couple of players said in a nutshell it was get your s##t together or else. Tearrius George said the words used were ones you can't put over the air. No kidding!

--Henry Burris was the best player on the field yesterday. There is no debate on this question. He looked like the Burris that gave the Riders headaches when he played for Calgary. If his receivers had helped him, he would have been much better

--Tino Sunseri's 2nd half should erase the doubts of many. It seems as if took him a little while to get going, but once he understands the complexities of the game, he looked alright. He is no Darian Durant, but he may be able to get us through these final 6 games with a home playoff game at the end of the rainbow.

--There is a lot of negativity about the team after a six game stretch that saw them go 5-1 heading into the last third of the season.  Why is that?

Other odds and ends:

This is Foote Field on the campus of the University of Alberta. The Rams and Golden Bears hooked up in a thriller Saturday night with a Rams comeback coming one play short as Regina was unsuccessful on what would have been a game tying two point convert as they lost 44-42 to the Bears.

This place is what (and I think what some in the Rams organization and perhaps University) always envisioned the area around the Rams practice field to look like, Its a great little facility that is intimate enough to create a solid game day atmosphere. I am guessing the berm on the far side of the field would even be used to maybe attract a crowd of 5-thousand for a game.  Underneath the stands are weight rooms, meeting rooms, etc. etc and behind me is a track and soccer field where the Bears were also  playing at the same time as the Rams.

To the game itself, Rams starting QB Cayman Shutter suffered what looked to be a rib injury meaning backup Noah Picton had to come in. There was no drop off. Noah, son of former Rams QB Dean Picton, can play the game as he threw for over 430 yards and just over a half of football. The kid doesn't look like a 5th year at all and fans of the Rams can be rest assured the quarterbacking position is in good hands for years to come.  Addison Richards was Addison Richards like catching 9 passes for 225 yards including a TD in the final minute where he was so far open that I could have caught it and ran it into the endzone.  If this team can stop taking bad penalties and improve just a little on the defensive side, they could make some noise. Calgary is still the class of the conference and should win the Hardy Cup, but the battle for 2nd is anyone's guess.  The Huskies are at Mosaic Saturday in what barring a playoff game will be the last time Frank McCrystal coaches against a Saskatoon team. Should be fun!

--Our hotel in Edmonton was close to where Rogers Arena, the new home of the Edmonton Oilers is being built. I asked our cab driver Sunday morning how close we were because I wanted to get a couple of pics for the blog. He had no idea what I was talking about. How can you live in Edmonton and not know a huge new arena is being built? SIGHHHHHHH

--When arriving at the airport, I couldn't believe the amount of people in Rider uniform that were there and on our flight. Were these people Edmontonians who are Rider fans? Were they Reginans who had been in Edmonton and were just getting ready for the proceedings? Whatever it is, they just reinforced the notion that the Riders are "Canada's Team".

--Its the last week of the baseball season meaning its the last week of play for Yankees shortstop Derek Jeter. Jeter showed how classy of a player he is Friday night when Dalton Pompey of the Blue Jays got his first major league hit. Jeter knew the moment was a special one and retrieved the ball before throwing it to the Jays dugout and congratulating Pompey on the moment. How cool would that be! Baseball and sports need more Jeters in them.

--I was hoping John Cena would not beat Brock Lesnar at WWE Night of Champions and when I read that he had on Twitter, I was shocked. Then I learned, he won because of DQ. OK. Vince and company need to establish some fast-rising stars and give them their chance because Cena's days are done. Its either that or turn him heel and they just won't do that. There is a wrestling show on satellite radio that I hear when off to Mosaic for Rider practices and they get some good info and have some good ideas. I wonder if the WWE brass are listening.

--They let a good sized lead slip away, but the Seahawks knocked off Denver in a game I PVR"ed and one I was glad I did. I wish that would have been the Super Bowl. Well, no maybe that's not the case as I would have been an emotional pile of jello watching that play out. In the end, the Seahawks win another one. I would gladly take another game against Peyton and company at the end of the season. If you watched the game, you couldn't help but be impressed at the play of Jon Ryan. He is just getting better and better. Seven punts for an average of over 50 and he boomed one on a free kick from the Seattle 25 to I believe the Denver 3 yard line. That's a 72 yard kick in the air! It was Canada Day at Century Link Field so I'm guessing Regina's export to the NFL was a little pumped up.

--This is the play of the day in the NFL as far as I'm concerned. Nice job Stephen Tulloch...nice indeed. Welcome to the blooper reels forever!!! This play by Johnny Manziel could also be considered. Too bad it was called back. What was it with quarterbacks catching passes yesterday? Russell Wilson, Andy Dalton and Manziel for sure caught balls. Were there more??

That's all I got....at least that's all I can remember right now.  Later!