Something to "Mitch" About

These two have likely seen some lean years, but yes, Rider Nation it is now really looking ugly. It is at a point where many haven't seen it before and they don't like it. Can't say I blame them.   I have no idea if Kevin Glenn's injury is a serious one or not, but we know K-G was brought in as an insurance policy in case Darian Durant went down and we hoped what happened Sunday night would not happen once Durant did get hurt as we are now down to another set of inexperienced quarterbacks. Is this scenario any better than last year when Durant went down? If it is, please explain.

You can't pin this one on Brett Smith because 3rd string quarterbacks aren't supposed to come in and save the day, but once Glenn went down it seemed the hopes of seeing that first win vanished. 

At least last year, you would hope for the defence to come through, but this year that isn't happening. They give up too many yards on first down, when they do have 2nd and long teams are converting whether it by pass or by penalty and yes a turnover would be nice.  Did Hamilton even punt in this game?  How many broken tackles were there? This defence simply just doesn't have what it takes right now for whatever reason. The loss of Shea Emry in Week 1 was huge, John Chick is getting double-teamed, Tyron Brackenridge is not the Tyron Brackenridge of old. The Rider D just isn't up to snuff right now and until they get their act together, this will continue as far as I am concerned. Hamilton did nothing special against that unit Sunday night. Zach Collaros just did his thing and he did it well. How many times did the Riders keep drives alive because of penalty?  The frustration level is high and until that win comes, whenever it comes, it will stay that way. 

By the way, do we now see how important and how much Barron Miles meant to this football team. I didn't like it when his days with the football club came to an end and my thoughts on that have been proven by what we've seen.  

Corey Chamblin's comment after the game was the best one yet to describe this 0-5 team. The comment being "This game told us where we were as a team. We're not good enough to make mistakes.

I can't argue that or even debate it because he's right.  I have no idea where this team ends or how it ends, but as the one third point season of the hits, it may be close to start thinking about next year when Durant will be healthy, Emry will be healthy and the chalkboard can be wiped clean. With Glenn out, all bets are now off unless this team finds another experienced quarterback and if so, what does it cost them and who is out there. 

There were some positives believe it or not 

1. Weston Dressler--If you could clone him, you would win a lot more games than you would lose. Pound for pound, he is the best player in the CFL. His play on that lateral where he picked up the ball and threw it out of bounds is something not many players would do, 

2. Paul McCallum -- This guy could kick until he's 50. Don't be surprised if he is the kicker when the new stadium opens because he just keeps getting it done. At what point, do we start talking about this guy as one of the greatest kickers in the history of pro football. 

3. Nic Demski -- You can see glimpses of greatness here. This guy will be a player!

4. Special teams play. With the exception of one real bone-headed play where there was no attempt to get out of the way resulting in a 15 yard penalty, they held Brandon Banks in check. 

One last thing and that is the crowd. 5 home games in June and July isn't the easiest thing for the casual fan plunking down money for seats. There were over 30-thousand fans at the game yesterday and while they didn't like the end result. They were there. Good job Rider Nation!

--Elsewhere, it is starting to become a survival of the fittest around the league as you can add Jon Cornish and Drew Willy to the list of injured players joining Mike Reilly, Ricky Ray and Darian Durant. You can say what you want about the officiating spoiling the game, but not having the league's best players in uniform is not good as well.

--Are the Argos the best team in the CFL? It is sad that they are and no one in their home market cares.

--I hardly watched any of the Pan-Am Games, but with well over 100 medals it would seem as if we are ready for the Rio Olympics next year. I am really looking forward to seeing how our basketball teams will fare after each won medals in Toronto with the women winning gold with University of Saskatchewan coach Lisa Thomaidis guiding the team. With people like Thomaidis and Dave Taylor running the University programs in this province, I think its safe to say there are good times on the horizon for the sport in these neck of the woods.

--A belated congratulations to legendary CTV Saskatoon sportscaster Kevin Waugh for winning the Tory nomination in a Saskatoon riding for the upcoming federal election. Could Conservative caucus meetings include both Waugh and all around Regina good guy Trent Fraser. Imagine that for just one second! Hey if Waugh can do it, can we start a grassroots campaign for CTV Regina's Don Hewitt??

--Speaking of CTV, the great Wayne Mantyka had a story last week about two teenagers who caused some vandalism in Harbour Landing by stealing a front-end loader and wrecking a playground by spraying graffiti. The developers want to know who is responsible, but they don't want to press charges. They would like an apology, some parental responsibility and perhaps have these kids do some work for them. HUH? Why have we become so lenient in today's society? An apology won't be meaningful, but pressing charges and having these jackwagons go to jail for 30 days might straighten them out and scare the hell out of them, An apology!!! What a ludicrous suggestion. Will they go for ice cream after?

--Say what you will about Alex Rodriguez, but he is having one helluva season for the New York Yankees and he will likely be in the playoffs again.

--Seeing someone twirl a no-hitter against the Cubs was not fun as Cole Hamels did that Saturday afternoon.  The Cubs had gone over 7000 games without being no-hit. That streak is over, but as one oh so nice Twitter follower reminded me shortly after the no-no had been completed, the lengthy no World Series victory streak remains alive. Thanks for that!!

--David Hearn gave it his best, but it wasn't enough to win the Canadian Open. I didn't see much of the final round, but what I did see was Jason Day on the top of his game. When he is at that level, he isn't going to get beat.

--That's all I got. Enjoy your Monday!