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!!!