Rider Pride?

It all culminated in October on what was billed as Rider Pride Day. The Riders were playing the BC Lions and the Riders actually won the game, one of two they won all year, and Lancaster said that was when Rider Pride was born.

The unspoken deal was that the fans would support the team, but the team would actually try to offer an entertaining product on the field and the result would be a win-win for the team and for the fans. This stubbornness by fans in not giving up on the team would not pay off for another 10 years when the Riders won their second Grey Cup 43-40 over the Hamilton Tiger-Cats.

The Riders turned a corner in the early 21^st Century when facing another rebuilding job, the team turned the emphasis on the fan experience at Taylor Field and I can attest from driving from Prince Albert to Regina for games, the experience was like a giant music concert held 10 times a year, maybe more if there was an actual home playoff game.

That kicked off what is either the greatest or second greatest era in Rider history with Grey Cup wins in 2007 and 2013, and Grey Cup appearances in 2009 and 2010. You can compare that to the Riders 1966-1976 run when the Riders won the 1966 Grey Cup and had Grey Cup appearances in 1967, 1969, 1972 and 1976 and debate which era was the greatest.

The problem comes with what current Rider CEO Craig Reynolds described as “sustained success” since 2013. The Riders have missed the playoffs as much as they have been in the playoffs, have not been to the Grey Cup and this year, if the football gods are merciful, will miss the playoffs.

It is not easy to write those words, but after watching the 2023 Riders take the twin events of the death of franchise hero George Reed and the installment of the 2013 Grey Cup team in the Plaza of Honor, and come up totally flat in losing to Hamilton 38-13, you have to wonder if the Saskatchewan Roughriders organization/team has lost sight of how much the fans care or cared about the team.

The performance on the field, ranging from unintentionally hilarious to profoundly depressing, featured a classic display of air tackling, an imaginative use of the Helen Keller Pass Defense, the why go for 10 yards when you can pass for four instead passing offense, and why holding the ball is overrated for offensive ball players.

I went to the washroom with about five minutes left in the first half (I was not missing anything) and the guy standing beside me raged at how the Riders performance was a slap to the face of the Reed family who were in attendance. I could not disagree, because if the Riders could not feel inspired getting up to honor the memory of a guy who helped build the franchise, and to honor the last team to win a Grey Cup, how can you really expect them to summon the inspiration to try to win to get into the playoffs, never mind compete for the Grey Cup?

The kindest team this version of the Riders can do is lose out and let Calgary slip into third to get beaten like a gong by BC in the western final. It would be an act of supreme cruelty to subject Rider fans to the prospect of appearing in a playoff game only to get beaten, say 56-3, because honestly, does this team have any pride or professionalism?

You can argue whose contract should not be renewed after this season, but this nugget came out this week. The Riders are apparently sending out season ticket renewals and some seats are looking at a 20-30 per cent increase.

In Edmonton the Elk have announced they are closing the upper level but leaving season ticket prices at their current level in recognition that ordinary fans, who pay the freight for teams by buying tickets, have other options for their entertainment dollars.

In Saskatchewan apparently, the emphasis by the Riders is on big money spenders, so that people like myself who drove from Prince Albert for games once upon a time, no longer really count. The Riders handed out Grey Cup replica rings for the last game, but for season ticket holders, there was only one ring per account. So, if I had four people in my family getting tickets, but just my name on the ticket, we only got one ring.

So, consider this Saskatchewan Roughrider board of directors. Let’s say for approximately the cost of season tickets for three adults, I can pick up a 43-inch Samsung 4K Smart TV, get a large pizza, a dozen beer and actually save money compared to going to Mosaic Stadium. I have been thinning out my Rider game worn jersey collection and I have been finding I am moving my jerseys, even though they are $100 more or less, because the Riders are charging $239 for crested fan jerseys, and when they did sell game worn jerseys, tried starting at $300 before cutting it to $200 for jerseys before finding very few people were buying.

The Riders have blown it when it comes to selling game used equipment. In the NFL they have authenticators who take pictures and measurements of jerseys, balls, footwear, helmets and such, so when they are offered to sale, fans can have an opportunity to own a part of history. But what happens when people don’t care anymore?

I think we are about to find out. The Riders may talk about this week being a must win, but let’s be honest. The Riders were lucky to win three of the six games they won this year, and if they could not get up last weekend in a game that meant a lot to fans, then why would fans have any confidence the team can rise to the task of beating Calgary?

The Riders may extend their MVP program to hold prices if people commit to a three year deal for season tickets, but with a team showing no spark on the field, why would anyone commit to spending money to go somewhere where you have non-stop noise and music to cover over the fact the fans have been beaten senseless by the uninspired Riders?

The only reason the Riders are threatening their fans with making the playoffs is that Edmonton, who were eliminated with a 35-12 loss to Toronto, and Calgary at 4-11, are somehow worse. Contrast this with the fun of the Bombers 34-26 win over the Lions for first place, and you can’t blame the Rider fans for wanting this season to be over and the blowing up on the listless hulk that is the Riders 2023 season to begin.

Speaking of cats, the Lions go to Hamilton following their heartbreaking loss to the Bombers. If the Lions receiver goes down with three seconds left in the fourth quarter on the Bomber 30-yard line and allowed the Lions to score a field goal, they would be in first place.

The Lions are not in first place because they disappeared in the second half with the exception of the last play of the game where they had a 65-yard reception but not much else. There should be a bit of a let-down from allowing an opportunity to finish first slip away, and Hamilton with Bo Levi Mitchell back in the picture, has managed the amazing feat of navigating away from a potential coaching change and crashing and burning out of the playoffs to now being a viable contender for facing Toronto in the eastern final.

The Lions may try a Toronto and rest various starters because they have lost the season series to Winnipeg and being tied with Winnipeg does nothing to improve their position. I would think a bit of a let down by BC and a bit of feistiness by Hamilton will be the result in this game but BC should win this one 27-23.

Montreal goes to Edmonton as Montreal is coming off a 29-3 thumping of Ottawa as it continues its domination of teams with losing records. Edmonton was officially eliminated with a 35-12 loss to Toronto, but the Elk have improved since allowing Tre Ford to take the reins at quarterback.

Montreal has more to play for in this game as they will be keeping an eye on Hamilton in the race for second in the east. Edmonton is playing for next year and trying to sell their fans on the idea they have a competitive team in the making.

While Cody Fajardo has not convinced me that he is more than a one trick pony at quarterback, Montreal does have a solid defense and may want to use this opportunity to defend a quarterback like Ford, to try various coverages they may need against a mobile quarterback like Chad Kelly in the Eastern Final should Montreal manage to get there.

For that reason, let’s say Montreal wins 26-21.

Ottawa goes to Toronto in what is the last Toronto home game for Argo fans before the Eastern Final. Ottawa finally succumbed to a combination of injuries and bad play calling to slide below the waves of playoff contention, so the question is how much of an exhibition game will this be since Toronto will not want to subject their key starters to unnecessary injury before the playoffs and Ottawa may want to start some practice roster players just to evaluate them before going into the off-season.

This will be a sloppy game with Toronto’s backups much better than Ottawa’s in a 30-21 win.

So let’s see if Calgary can drive a hammer through the heart of the Riders dim playoff hopes. A Rider win would guarantee a playoff berth, but that may not be enough for the Riders who seem to be playing for the dismissal of their head coach and if they play their cards right, their general manager as well.

Craig Dickenson has the sound of a dead coach walking, proud of what he tried to do. Dickenson was put in a difficult situation by former Rider Coach and GM Chris Jones who signed his coaches to contact extensions before jumping ship for the NFL and handcuffing the Riders in plotting a new direction instead of drifting along the course Jones was trying to plot.

Dickenson was a stylistic change from Jones in being approachable to fans, something the Rider brain trust thought was needed after Jones failed to get the Riders back into the Grey Cup. The problem is sometimes coordinators get promoted to jobs they unable to do, like being a head coach.

Jake Dolegala is starting at quarterback and after a great start, has shown the ability to throw a stylistically pretty ball downfield, but with not sense of being able to move a team between the 35-yard lines. Add to this his tendency to fumble and you can argue that if Zack Collaros has a glass jaw, then Dolegala has glass hands since he fumbles so often.

The problem is the Rider defense where injuries, lack of depth and coaching has subjected fans to matador tackling, busted coverages and unless the opposing team trips over the warped carpet that passes for turf at Mosaic Stadium, an inability to stop the other team at any time.

To expect the Riders to turn this around at the flick of a switch wishful thinking. The Riders have not shown any spark of inspiration which makes you wonder if they really have tuned out their head coach.

The Riders playoff strategy seems to be to rely on other teams playing as bad as they do. However, Calgary has a running game and teams can run on the Riders like Secretariat ran the Triple Crown, all day and apparently all of the night.

I thought last week the Riders would have shown up to be competitive but I was wrong. I won’t make that mistake this week.

Calgary 27-24.

Photos below….

Jamal Borrow holds a flag honoring George Reed for the Riders pre game introduction. Members of the 2013 Grey Cup winners come out onto the field for the pregame introduction

Georgette Reed, daughter of George, addresses the crowd before the game. The Riders gave a video tribute to Reed

Brent Lauther kicks off the game. Bo Levi Mitchell takes the ball for Hamilton in the first quarter

by Greg Urbanoski

Rider Pride?

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