Sign up for the paNOW newsletter

One Down – Eight to Go

Sep 8, 2015 | 8:26 AM

It’s one of nature’s most grand sights. Each Labour weekend the zombie hordes come to Regina from their nesting grounds in Winnipeg to experience flush toilets and moan for their Winnipeg Blue Bombers. After the game, they are surprised by gifts donated from Saskatchewan seniors of old used dentures so the zombie hordes would be able to eat a cooked meal. Kindly Rider fans are often seen opening a beer before handing it to a Bomber fan because they are not known for hand-eye coordination.

This year was no exception as the Riders took advantage of changes from Cory Chamblin and Brendan Taman’s firing and rallied under new coach Bob Dyce and GM Jeremy O’Day for a 37-19 win over the Bomber zombie hordes.

It was an extraordinary week in Riderville where public anger built after the Riders debacle in Ottawa including the benching of quarterback Brett Smith, really built on Monday and culminated Monday night with news that not just Chamblin, but Taman had lost their jobs. Chamblin was let go because not only was he losing, he was alienating fans, many of whom considered the 35-12 loss to Ottawa to be the last straw as Tino Sunseri  gave his best deer in the headlights impersonation.

Taman was a little more surprising but understandable because someone had to stand up for the team and tell Chamblin that his defensive signal calling was hurting the team and he should have turned the reins over to Greg Quick. In addition, the Riders player management had the team scrapping the ceiling of the salary cap and not leaving money to keep young Canadians in the roster and not moving on to other teams.

Rod Pedersen, formerly voice of the Raiders and now of the Riders, came out with one of his better blog posts outlining how Chamblin had been alienating the team and those around it since the Grey Cup win in 2013. In fact it apparently started earlier when Chamblin ran off Craig Dickenson as special teams coach because Dickenson wouldn’t agree to change his contract to come back earlier from an off season job. CFL assistant coaches generally don’t make that much.

To give you an idea of how the firings of Chamblin and Taman went, there is an old Ukrainian woman in my condo complex who used to clean the condo of Roy Shivers when he was GM. She always wants to talk football and I went over to her place that night to tell her the news.

She hugged me and said our nightmare is over.

The first practice for Dyce was Wednesday and there was a lineup of people waiting to get in which was extraordinary. What also boggled the imagination was music playing while the players stretched. I compared this to the last practice I attended where Anthony Allen had to be escorted off the field because of a near fight with the defensive line coach.

The atmosphere was different and I think I will continue under Dyce because he was been around for many years and he is not as combustible as Chamblin. The offense played to its potential with Smith as quarterback and the Riders unleashed Andre Monroe at defensive tackle that was a Mack truck as he put pressure on Winnipeg quarterback Brian Broehm and made many fans when after he sacked the quarterback he lifted his jersey and rubbed his tummy.

The defense was a welcome surprise under Quick because while there was the odd missed tackle, the team played better except for letting a touchdown in garbage time and yet scoring a touchdown on a fumble recovery.

A caveat has to be provided here – Winnipeg despite having two more wins than the Riders, is clearly the worst team in the league. However, the Riders are coming off a nine game losing streak and a win over the Sisters of Charity, as long as it counted in the standings, would be welcomed.

The interesting thing is this win may start a winning streak that could well result in Winnipeg firing Coach Mike O’Shea, getting Richie Hall as an interim and firing offensive coordinator Marcel Bellefeille. The Riders are playing with confidence and if the Bombers die like they did against the Riders, then they will have look at major changes or lose their fans for seasons to come.

The Riders on the other hand are in a position to make a run if they can beat Winnipeg again, then they host Ottawa and maybe get to a tie with Winnipeg with three wins in the standing. I’m not saying the playoffs are a possibility, but there is reason to watch the Riders again.

So this week we have return match ups starting with Hamilton at Toronto on Friday. Hamilton made Toronto’s pass defense look like a joke and while Ricky Ray was on the sidelines for Toronto, unless he can play pass defense there is no point in having him in the game unless he is ready. Hamilton is a mixed bag considering they lost a game they should have won against Montreal and played near perfect football against Toronto. Toronto’s pass defense is apparently the worst in the CFL – Hamilton will take advantage – Hamilton 31 Toronto 22.

The Riders go to Winnipeg for the Banjo Bowl and here is an interesting statistic about the Banjo Bowl – I believe the Riders actually lead the series. The Riders finally came alive against Winnipeg and ran a balanced offense and a defense that could put pressure on opposing quarterbacks and play pass defense. The Bombers are now stumbling towards their doom and the Riders will put more nails in their coffin – Riders 28 Winnipeg 24.

Calgary goes to Edmonton and I picked Edmonton for an upset last week and it almost worked. But with Edmonton putting in Mike Reilly before he may be fully ready, Deadmonton Coach Chris Jones is serving notice he has no regard for the health of his players. I hear there is a conflict brewing between Jones and Eskimo GM Ed Hervey which might result in Jones getting the axe sooner or later.  Calgary is playing better than Edmonton so let’s go Calgary 22 Edmonton 21.

Finally we have Ottawa at BC and this game I don’t know what to think. Ottawa is coming off the bye and has added Shawn Lemon to its defensive line to strengthen it. BC is coming off a win in Montreal despite losing Travis Lulay for three to six weeks.  John Beck did OK as BC quarterback, but this game will be a test of whether Ottawa will be a factor in the CFL or not. Let’s hope for the Rider sake that Ottawa wins 24-23.