Roughriders

When I was first pondering what to write about for this week, I was thinking that it would mostly be about the stadium or lack thereof for the Saskatchewan Roughriders.

But when I came back from my morning run, I found the Riders had made some interesting changes with Omar Morgan being released along with defensive back Willie Byrd.

The release of Morgan was unfortunate because he did make the decision to go to Edmonton in 2007, missing out on a Grey Cup ring. He came back from Edmonton and towards the end of last season, and especially in the playoffs, he was less than outstanding. There was a play near the end of the Grey Cup where Morgan could have made a play to break up a long pass and didn't and he had problems with tackling as well, probably due to a shoulder injury.

Morgan was counted on last year for his leadership and this kind of makes things interesting. I suppose this was not surprising since Morgan came back from Edmonton after Hall went there but I think Morgan's injury experience kind of negated the value his experience brings to the field.

Hall will be bringing his own variation of a defense, but I think the release of Morgan and Byrd point out the Riders either believe they need to upgrade, in getting more physical on the defensive backfield, or they have some signings from the States they feel can come in and provide better coverage.

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The release of Morgan and Byrd follows on the heels of the release of Donovan Alexander, which means the Rider defensive backfield is getting a shake-up. This indicates the team does not plan to be sitting on its laurels. Two Grey Cup appearances in two years are fine, but it doesn't beat two Grey Cup wins in two years, and this is what Rider fans want.

Another potential change on the Rider defense may come as it appears Kitwana Jones is negotiating with the Montreal Allouettes. This also makes sense as the biggest knock against Jones was his size and how easy it was for other teams to run him over.

Jones adds value through his passion and special teams play, but if Jones does sign with Montreal, he would most likely be there what he is here, a situational player. Apparently the Riders do have contract in front of him, and you can't blame Jones for looking around. It will be interesting to see what happens there.

BC is hosting the Grey Cup this year and the Lions are definitely making a big push to ensure they are the western champions. Jarious Jackson recently extended his contract with the Lions, and the Lions scored big by getting former Calgary offensive lineman Ben Archibald to sign. Archibald was the former outstanding offensive lineman and apparently Calgary invested quite a few bucks in their receivers and feel they can find another offensive lineman. I kind of hesitate to downgrade Calgary's offensive line, merely because I thought they would be poor last year and they actually did quite well.

And finally, what of the new stadium? Well, the provincial government set Feb. 28th as a deadline for federal involvement and it appears the feds will not come through. The City of Regina had an agreement with CP Rail to buy the downtown rail yards, but that agreement expires Feb. 28th, so it will be interesting to see if the city continues with it.

A retractable dome stadium appears now out of the question, and it seems either a fixed dome or an outdoor stadium will be the answer. But then again, many are saying that fixing up Taylor Field may work as an option.

But, and this is a big but, having a stadium sit empty for half a year is not necessarily the most cost effective option. And least we forget, the Potash Corporation of Saskatchewan just got saved from a foreign takeover and owes the Saskatchewan government big time. Maybe its time these corporations pitched in and helped to put together a pretty good stadium.

But then again, why weren't they approached in the first place with this particular project?