By Riderville

Riderville Report – October 23

Oct 26, 2011 | 8:00 AM

The Saskatchewan Roughriders in 2011 is like passing a car crash. It's a horrible sight to see, but you can't turn away from it.

The Riders broke their touchdown drought against Calgary, but still lost the game Friday night to allow the Stampeders to sweep the season series. The build up for the game revolved around the injury to Darian Durant and whether he should be kept out as a precaution and the other quarterbacks allowed to start.

The lines of communication off field for the Riders saw Durant say one thing, Miller another, and suddenly the answer to the question of why the Riders don't seem to be on the same page on the field made a lot of sense. Durant has a broken bone in his foot, which he can feel, but apparently cannot get any worse.

Miller said Durant gave the team the best chance at winning, which I tend to agree with, but where I disagree is where Ken Miller went on about showing loyalty to players already on the roster while he was defending why the Riders would not move many players from the practice roster onto the field to see if they could compete.

Miller staked a lot on the team performing for him when he took over from Greg Marshall, but after a three game winning streak, the team has tanked. The TD scoring drought beat the record set in 1979 and the Riders just plain looked inept.

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The biggest problem with Miller's decision to start Durant came in the second half when Durant was either pulled, or forced to leave the game due to injury. It was initially reported as a concussion, but Miller said after the game it was not. But risking the health of the franchise quarterback for the sake of ego is a very questionable move from a 70 year old coach who should know better.

The fans have long since written this season off, but they wanted to see if the backups could perform because no one can doubt there should be substantial restructuring both off and on the field. With the Riders being awarded the 2013 Grey Cup, the Riders have a short leash to build a team worthy of contending for what would be the ultimate Rider fan fantasy. Playing in and winning the Grey Cup at Taylor Field.

At least putting in the practice roster players would provide game conditions where the players could be evaluated to see if they could perform. The fans would accept that and perhaps would even be hesitant to boycott the final home game against the Hamilton Tiger-Cats.

Anecdotal evidence suggests the players are just waiting until the last game is over so they can get the hell out of Dodge. Where once upon a time the Riders were happy to be out in public, now they show up paying bills with their hoodies covering themselves up, and keeping a low profile.

The news that Jim Hopson will sit in on the decision on whether Durant plays indicates Hopson is taking a more active role in the football operations side, which is a recipe for disaster. The Riders off field structure has paved the way for the disaster that was 2011 which will result in less profits. The more fans decide to stay at home, the less money the Riders will make on concessions, memorabilia and the like.

Hopson set up the system that has failed, and confidence in him to bring balance to the force that was the Saskatchewn Roughriders is highly questioned. With the rumor mill stating it was Ken Miller and Jim Hopson making the decisions on hiring and firing Greg Marshall, Roy Shivers is being looked at in a more favorable light these days.

The pressure is now on the Rider board of directors and I have to admit a potential conflict of interest – I went to school with one of the directors who likes just a few blocks away from me. His first year as a director is something he is not going to forget, or I hope forgive.

If Jim Hopson has to go, then the person to step in as Rider CEO is Greg Fieger, who has a good business in Regina, a talk show on leadership, and knows his football. As far as a GM goes, the jury is still out on Brendan Taman, but he has brought in some potentially good players.

Kent Austin responded to the rumors of his potential return by saying he was happy to with a first class university like Cornell, but it was worded in such a way that you could interpret it any which way you want. Perry Lefko, the blogger who posted the rumor, thought it was a slow news day when he decided to put that piece on line, and while it might be nice to think of such a return, I'll believe it when I see it.

Changes need to be made, and decisive changes as well, to give the fans the sense this team will learn from its mistakes and come back to be a serious contender for a home town Grey Cup. But with the Riders, sometimes doing the obvious just doesn't work for them.