Yes, Saskatchewan. They Are That Bad.

The Riders could win out the rest of the way and perhaps make the playoffs that way if the teams above them were smitten with painful urination for the rest of the year, distracting them from the football field, but seriously Rider fans, there are not enough Santeria priestesses in the world capable of pulling that crap off.

One thing off the table seems to be the likelihood of Bob Dyce hanging on as Rider head coach after this season. Dyce after the game said Glenn would start against Hamilton this week because he gives the Riders the best chance to win and they still have a shot at the playoffs. If Glenn could play defence maybe then Dyce has a point, and I can see why Dyce is still clinging to the Riders sounding like they can still make the playoffs because otherwise players would tune out and start thinking about making videotapes for other teams to consider.

The Riders could not play contain on defense or block on offense and that moves us past the point of coaching to considering the fact these players may not be good enough. If there was a system where they could be evaluated that might help to clear up the mystery but who knows what former Rider Coach Cory Chamblin had in mind for the first half of the season?

Right now the Riders are at ground zero where they are given basic defensive calls and are asked to play to their abilities to make plays. If they can’t make the plays, then whose fault is that?

Perhaps the biggest loss from Saturday night was not in the scoreboard, although that hurt – it was the poor performance by Kevin Glenn which saw his trade value plummet making it unlikely anyone – even Hamilton – would consider trading for him or giving up anything of real value for him.

When you consider that Glenn is a free agent after this season, then the Riders should not be surprised that even this potential carriage turns out to be nothing more than a pumpkin pulled by mice. Brett Smith did get a touchdown in garbage time, much like Raheem Cato did against the Riders last week, and if you see how Cato fell flat against Ottawa, then you realize how little value can be attached to that performance.

One would almost hope the Riders get plastered against Hamilton to remove that faint hope clinging to them of a playoff spot and the Riders can then move on to evaluating players for next season. The problem is that both Jeremy O’ Day and Rider Coach Bob Dyce have the interim labels attached to their job titles so there may be only so much they can do.

Rider CEO Jeffrey Reynolds is apparently sifting through applications, one of which is apparently not Tom Higgins as reported by Rider play by play announcer Rod Pedersen. What the Riders are looking for is anyone’s guess.

It seems appropriate that the Riders turkey of a season should be finished by Thanksgiving.

So the CFL in its silliness in southern Ontario has a game Tuesday in which Toronto is supposed to be the home team, but it is being played in Ottawa because the Jays thought they would be playing in the parking garage they call SkyDome. Toronto has had a bye while Ottawa is coming off a convincing win over Montreal. If Ottawa is for real, they need to put away Toronto and make a run for first place in the east. Even though it is a short week for Ottawa, I am still not convinced about Toronto’s secondary – Ottawa 27 -26.

The Riders visit Hamilton and Hamilton struggled in the wind against Calgary and only a muffed punt separated Hamilton from a potential win. After seeing how a quarterback in just his second start could shred the Riders in the BC game, I expect Hamilton’s defence will shut the Riders down and give their special teams and the offense time to take the Riders apart. The Rider hopes of making the playoffs formally end here – 31-22.

Edmonton goes to Calgary in a battle for first place and while Edmonton has to be feeling good about themselves, Calgary is trying to overcome injuries in their defense, which seemed to hold pretty good over Winnipeg. Jon Cornish plays against Deadmonton for the first time this season. As long as Calgary was fairly one dimensional, it was relatively easy for Deadmonton to defend, including the intensive care unit substituting as Calgary’s offensive line and now its linebackers. Edmonton has a good defense, but their offense is not the greatest with a running back by committee and an offensive line made up of misfits and hobos. The winner gets the season series and if Deadmonton wins and gets first place, they have a bye the last weekend of the season and wouldn’t play for three weeks. That is ideal for recovering from injuries, but at that time of year when you want to be sharp, three weeks of inactivity is not ideal. Calgary wins 23-22.

Winnipeg goes to BC in a battle to decide who should finish third. Rider fans should be getting a fruit basket or a BC Lions cheerleader calendar from Wally Buono for the three wins the Riders have provided the Lions this year. I like Jennings more than I like Matt Nicholls. More importantly, the BC Lions like Jennings. BC has special team problems, but they are going against Winnipeg who also have special team problems and are probably feeling snake bit after two tough losses. Matt Nichols is an improvement over Brian Broehm, but seriously folks, Nichols is no Drew Willy and may be a cheaper version of Kevin Glenn. Winnipeg is an organization that is teetering, downsizing the Grey Cup because of slow ticket sales and now trying to figure out who is walking and who might be getting fired. BC wins 26-23.

Toronto then goes to Montreal on Thanksgiving Monday. Toronto may or may not have beaten Ottawa, and I am betting Ottawa has beaten them. Montreal is coming off a bye and an embarrassing loss to Ottawa. Montreal needs a win to get back into the playoff picture while Toronto is trying to right the ship after stumbling in recent weeks. But the game is in Montreal and I like betting Montreal on their home turf – Montreal wins 25-23.

by Riderville

Yes, Saskatchewan. They Are That Bad.

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