December 07, 2009 | 09:28 PM
It’s taken a week to actually get to the point of wanting to talk about it.
So for the final time this season, let’s talk about the 2009 edition of the Saskatchewan Roughriders. There were so many questions going into the season. How would be the defense be after losing key players like Mo Lloyd and Anton McKenzie? And not to mention what would things be like having lost Richie Hall, who was then replaced
by Gary Etchevarry?
November 30, 2009 | 04:47 PM
As I sit in my hotel room and write this, my stomach still feels empty, and my heart aches. It aches for the men in green that poured everything into a game that like last night can be cruel and unfair. I’m left to stare into nothingness, replaying a game that is still a blur, and hopefully remains that way.
November 29, 2009 | 06:59 PM
This season’s journey started June 2nd:
“Rookie camp starts this Wednesday at 2:15pm on the Mosaic Stadium turf, followed by the real-deal this weekend; On Sunday June 7th at 8:15am the quest for 97th Grey Cup begins and I’ll be blogging about it from now until November 29th when our team looks to win their fourth Championship in team history.”
November 27, 2009 | 11:15 PM
It was the final time this season that the Riders took to the field for practice, and what a scene it was. As snow fell, media from all parts of the country hoarded the team in green in hopes of getting that final quote before the biggest game of them all. I kind of just stood there and tried to realize the enormity of what was taking place in front of me… but it almost became too much.
November 26, 2009 | 09:48 PM
Today’s blog is coming to you compliments of downtown Calgary, however, I’m not all that sure that my words can do justice to the scene here. You read about it in National papers every day, see it on TV, and listen to it on the radio, but to be here and feel the Rider Pride, green energy and collective pull of the Rider Nation is something else.
November 25, 2009 | 07:10 PM
I mentioned yesterday that these two teams have met before in a Championship, however, under very different names and circumstances. The year was 1931, and back then our commonly known Saskatchewan Roughriders were the Regina Roughriders. Montreal, was named the Montreal Winged Wheelers. Despite the fact that the Riders made history by playing in their fourth straight Grey Cup, they were shut-out yet again, losing miserably to Montreal.
November 24, 2009 | 05:04 PM
I think I was more worried about getting past the Western Final than anything that I’ll be able to enjoy this week a little more than last; at least I should be sleeping a bit. I still have to remind myself that we’re playing for a Grey Cup because it seems like yesterday that I was at the Rogers Centre in Toronto watching the Riders win their third Grey Cup in team history.
November 23, 2009 | 05:28 PM
Wooooohooooo!!!!
The Canadian Air Show has arrived. Fantuz, Bagg, and Getzlaf… TOUCHDOWN!
Let’s be honest, the Riders DOMINATED the Stampeders in every facet of that football game. Forget about law of averages and the Riders having had beat Calgary all year, or the Riders having all the pressure on them, or whatever other statistic the Stamps or any other non-believer wants to throw at this team. Yesterday the humble, character-filled, and ego-less Roughriders showed Calgary and the rest of the league what happens when you have a group of guys that believe in each other and play as the ultimate team. And we’re going back the Grey Cup for the second time in three years. Wow!
November 20, 2009 | 04:04 PM
I couldn't sleep last night. Plain and simple. In fact, I think I've finally come to the realization that the reason my sleeping habits have been so horrible lately is because of Sunday. So, what does a Rider fan do when they can't sleep?
November 19, 2009 | 06:37 PM
I’ve been asking myself all week why we’re the best fans in the CFL, if not all professional sports in Canada. I mean it’s simple right? You go to the game, perhaps wear your team’s colours, and on the odd chance your team makes a good play, you might get a little excited. Sounds pretty status quo.
November 18, 2009 | 09:22 PM
I said yesterday that I would single out the Stamps vivacious kicker Sandro DeAngelis, and so here it is. For years now Mr. DeAngelis has rubbed me the wrong way with his Italian dancing antics after making a field-goal. Maybe he’s just one of those guys you love having on your team and can’t stand him if he’s not. Whatever the case is, he has cost his team one game, for sure, and possibly a second this year against the Riders.
November 17, 2009 | 05:09 PM
Today I’m going to allow myself to look ahead a bit. Is it safe to say that the only way Calgary’s Grey Cup is going to be a success is if the Riders are in it?
November 16, 2009 | 04:09 PM
I hate the Stampeders. Can I just put that out there? And now, we have to see them for the second time in three weeks - this time with a Grey Cup ticket on the line.
November 13, 2009 | 06:28 PM
Perhaps what’s been the most rewarding part of this season for me is that I’ve been able to get to know some of the Roughriders outside of the game. I mean, with all of the media and coverage on this team we get a pretty good idea of what these athletes are like while in uniform, but having the chance to be at practice throughout the year, and talk with these guys off camera has been very revealing; it’s nice to know that they’re human too.
November 12, 2009 | 01:46 PM
The Riders are hitting the practice field Wednesday for the first time since locking up the West, and I’ll be there to get all their thoughts on what it means to place first, to what kind of pressures placing first comes with. I think I’ve mentioned this, but I’ll mention it again; in the last 20-years, the team coming out of the Western Semi-Final has won 12 times. This statistic has me a little perplexed, as I want to, and still do, believe that the team with a bye-week at this time of year has the advantage. I guess that stat would be a little skewed as in those 20-years there has never been a West Final at Mosaic. That will be the difference.
November 09, 2009 | 07:07 PM
Woooooooohoooooo… Take that Stamps!
What a game, what an atmosphere, and what a great day to be a Rider fan. For the first time since 1976 the Saskatchewan Roughriders are atop of the Western Division after the regular season, and it’s about time! For all of the losing, all of the heartbreak, the telethons, and half-empty stadiums, Saturday night was something special, as Mosaic Stadium reached a level of pandemonium that I have never seen.
November 06, 2009 | 04:22 PM
The biggest game in Saskatchewan Roughrider regular season history is now just a day away, and there’s an undeniable tension hanging in the fall air of the prairie province today. Everywhere I go the game seems to be the topic of discussion, and people’s most asked question on the street seems to be, “can we really do it?”
November 04, 2009 | 07:30 PM
It’s really difficult to know what to expect at all from this game on Saturday night. Calgary is coming off another last minute win in hostile territory, while the Riders are coming off their worst performance of the season, if not in recent history. All signs, from most outside Rider Nation would feel as though the Stamps should be heavily favoured in this game. Rider fans know, however, that it is probably the perfect scenario heading into the game.
November 02, 2009 | 11:40 AM
Well if that wasn’t the most disgusting way to clinch a home playoff game, I don’t know what is. I can’t remember the last time a Roughrider team didn’t score a touchdown in game, but not only not score a touchdown, not even come close
October 30, 2009 | 06:13 PM
Think back to 2006 when the Roughriders so desperately searched for that long awaited home playoff game, but would have to look again to next year country to host their first playoff at home since 1988… fast-forward to three seasons later, and a home playoff game isn’t good enough anymore; Rider fans want to be tops in the West for the first time since 1976, and can you blame them?
October 28, 2009 | 09:55 PM
I’m having a difficult time wrapping my head around the fact that the season has just two games left in it; where did it go? That said, I think the Riders are finally starting to feel that they are at a place, execution wise, where they hoped they would be at the beginning of the year, and after having talked to a lot of people about the green and white the past couple of days, they couldn’t be happier that the Riders are peaking at the right time.
October 26, 2009 | 07:43 PM
Never in my life have I seen a team fight back in football games this year the way the Riders have, and against seemingly impossible odds, they did it again. First off, shame on all of you who left the game early. I hope you were tucked in bed and had to find out we won by reading it in the paper the next day. Never, and I mean never give up on this team.
October 23, 2009 | 06:54 PM
Enough is enough… I’m tired of watching this team not be able to end the hopes and dreams of Western opponents this year, and tomorrow there’s a chance to diminish the BC Lions’ aspirations of finishing ahead of the Riders. Granted the Riders gained one point in their last two games.
October 21, 2009 | 02:12 PM
Or are we?
A near sweep of the CFL Player’s of the week has me thinking that we may just be better than our record would suggest, and while sometimes that poses a bit of problem in terms of where the Riders are in the standings, we find ourselves located right where we need to be with just three games left on the schedule.
October 20, 2009 | 09:40 AM
I still can’t believe it…
I still am trying to digest all that happened on Saturday, and I think it may take all of this week to fully wrap my head around that thriller at McMahon. Never have I been to a game in which I thought the Riders were going to win, then lose, then win, then lose… you get my point. The roller-coaster ride that was at McMahon will be remembered for a very long time, but perhaps not for the best of reasons.
October 16, 2009 | 01:37 PM
Andy Fantuz is staying put... and after I questioned him, perhaps unfairly throughout the season, it seems as though the standout receiver is prepared to sign a two-year deal. That said, you can only imagine the clauses in the contract, of course the biggest being his intentions to tryout with teams to the south. I'm all fine and dandy with that; in pro sports, you sometimes have to keep the athlete happy, especially with the talent Mr.Fantuz exudes. Exciting news indeed.
October 15, 2009 | 12:40 PM
It’s been a surprisingly quiet week on both the Riders' side of things, as well as the usual smash-talking Stampeders front. Make no mistake however, by Saturday afternoon, emotions will have reached a fever-pitch, and tension will be at an all-time high.
October 14, 2009 | 02:52 PM
At 8-6, the Roughriders have yet another chance to punch their ticket to a home playoff game, but how many times is this team going to get a revival?
October 09, 2009 | 04:54 PM
As the snow falls I can’t help but think that this is why the Canadian game is as special as it is. And with more snow forecasted for Saturday night’s game, I can only imagine this helping us rugged prairie folk win the game against the cushy-domed Roger Centre eastern Argos.
October 07, 2009 | 10:15 AM
I bought my home playoff ticket yesterday. And for someone as superstitious as me, I’m having a hard time wrapping my head around purchasing it way too prematurely. But of course, with the success of the Riders, and how hot they are in our province, you have to do it before the cut-off date or my seat is lost to someone else. So, will I actually get to use the ticket?
October 06, 2009 | 08:15 PM
That was bad.
Words like uninspired, lackluster, mediocre, ordinary etc… Should I go on? When you hold a team to
19 points in the CFL, you should win almost every night.
October 02, 2009 | 03:13 PM
This is what I wrote after the Riders lost to the Lions back on August 7th and dropped to 3-3:
“Despite this roller coaster spiraling downwards right now, the fact remains that after the first
third of the season, the Riders are in a tie for first with the Esks and Stamps; BC is right back
in it at 2-4. If you look at the next six games, the Riders have Hamilton, Montreal, Winnipeg
twice, and Edmonton twice. At the very least this team has to go three and three again, and I
honestly think we can go 4-2. The heart of the schedule will give us a little better idea of how
good, or how bad of team we really are heading down the stretch.”
October 01, 2009 | 03:29 PM
It’s been said that BC Place, the Dome, is one of the loudest Stadiums in the CFL; of course our
Mosaic Stadium, an open-air Stadium, rivals that claim. I recall a conversation with a former BC
Lion, Kelly Bates, a couple of years ago, and he said that no matter what anyone says, Rider fans
at Mosaic are the loudest he’s ever heard.
September 30, 2009 | 09:17 AM
I’m going to keep this short and somewhat sweet… This is another week in which the Jason Clermont saga continues to mount, and with JC returning to a place he spent much of his career on Friday, there is no doubt that he will be all over the headlines come game time. For those of you that know what Twitter is, which I’m guessing is many of you, Clermont made a reference, on his Twitter account, that the Buffalo Bills aren’t using Terrel Owens enough. Now surely this is a jab at the Riders for not using Jason enough either, but are we reading too much into it?
September 29, 2009 | 10:48 AM
It wasn’t pretty, in fact, it was downright ugly at times. Far too often, however, that game on
Saturday would be a game, at Commonweatlth nonetheless, that the Riders would have found a way to
lose, and didn’t.
September 25, 2009 | 08:41 PM
I promised a story about the Edmonton City Police and one of my Rider game experiences on Wednesday - here you go.
September 23, 2009 | 09:05 AM
These back-to-back games are supposedly set-up to create instant rivalries. As far as I’m
concerned, the rivalry between the Riders and Esks, not to mention any other team in the West
doesn’t need repeat appearances to stir things up. But whom does the upper hand go to in the second
game?
September 21, 2009 | 09:30 AM
Perhaps that’s the best word to describe what happened at Mosaic on Sunday with just over a minute left in the game. By now, I’m sure you all know what took place, and there’s no need to rehash that horrific breakdown in the secondary, but for the last time, how does a receiver get that wide open? It kind of makes us all realize that one simple breakdown at any point in a football game can lead to a touchdown.
September 18, 2009 | 03:58 PM
Friday means we get to talk about yet another pivotal match-up in the CFL West, as the 5-5 Edmonton Eskimos crawl into Mosaic Stadium to face the 6-4 Saskatchewan Roughriders. On paper, this game should be close, but for reasons I will list below, it most certainly will not. As far as I’m concerned, these next two games will decide the fate of both teams.
September 16, 2009 | 11:07 AM
It’s another somewhat quiet week in Riderville, and it’s because the Riders won in one of the most convincing fashions in the team’s 99 years of existence. It drives me crazy when the green and white get a win, whether by 30 points or one point, and people make it seem like we were the ones that lost. I mean, I will be critical of our team, and when we eek a win out I will mention that fact that this was good, bad or ugly. But when a team wins 55-10, there is absolutely nothing to find wrong. The point is, the Riders played nearly flawlessly in their past two efforts, and I expect much of the same this weekend against the Eskimos.
September 15, 2009 | 04:13 PM
Monday mornings are much more pleasant after games like that. I said it Friday and I’ll say it again; this Roughrider team seems to be ready to make a run for the CFL West Division title, and if you needed any motivation to fuel that thought, then Sunday’s thrashing of the Winnipeg Blue Bombers should suffice.
September 15, 2009 | 04:00 PM
After what seemed like an eternity getting through the bye-week, things are happening fast and furious now, and there will be no stopping until we crown a CFL Champion on November 29th in Calgary. It’s hard to believe that we’re already at game number ten on the schedule, but there’s no backing off now
September 10, 2009 | 03:36 PM
I woke up this morning feeling pretty good about being a Rider fan today; we’re 5-4 and in a tie for first in the West, we have a great second half schedule, and Kitwana Jones is coming home. Without making this whole blog drag on about how much of an added bonus having Kitwana back is, let me say this: our special team coverage should get a whole lot better in a hurry with Jones flying around the field. What he does on defense, I could really care less because I really believe our defense is at a point now where I don’t want to see all that many changes. But on special teams, release the hound that is Kitwana Jones.
September 08, 2009 | 05:01 PM
There’s no disputing the fact that we all build this game up to be the most epic thing we’ll ever see in our life. Some years, the Classic does live up to its name, perhaps like the 2007 game which saw eight lead changes and a Kerry Joseph dash to the end zone to win it. Then there are games like last year, boring, and this year, that make the Labour Day Classic seem pretty dull. Don’t get me wrong, I don’t mind winning games in very melodramatic fashion, but as Rider fans, we have become accustomed to holding on to the last minute before knowing the victor.
September 04, 2009 | 11:59 PM
Finally it’s Friday and we can actually begin to focus on the most important part of the weekend; tailgating. All right, so while all the parties and hoopla may be secondary to what takes place at Mosaic Stadium on Sunday, there is definitely a lot of fun to be had when it comes to all the pre-game festivities in Regina, and it will hit high gear tonight. I always love hearing stories about how Winnipeg is trying to stay focused the night before the game; they’ve stayed in Moose Jaw, kept their hotel location in Regina a secret, done this and that, all in an effort to get some rest and stay clear of Rider fans trying to scout them out and keep them awake. This does happen by the way.
September 03, 2009 | 07:42 PM
I was going through some of my notes from the 2007 season, and found this blog entry I wrote from Australia. I had to miss the most important regular season game of the year, but the experience of watching that game from far away was pretty cool. Enjoy the read… and stay tuned; Regina is going to hit a fever-pitch by Friday.
September 02, 2009 | 06:11 PM
With all the news of Jason Armstead, Matt Dominguez, and Pacman Jones, story lines abound in the prairie province heading into the Labour Day Classic. But what should we make of all of this?
Here’s my take…
August 31, 2009 | 07:33 PM
As far as I’m concerned, the first part of the CFL season doesn’t mean all that much; sure, you don’t want to put yourself in a bad position in terms of where you are going to finish, but you can’t win a championship in the first part of the season
August 27, 2009 | 10:36 PM
Despite the fact that for one day this weekend my heart-rate won’t sky-rocket, I find myself wishing the Riders were suiting up for action; I’m guessing they don’t feel the same way.
August 24, 2009 | 08:59 PM
What is with our play calling in short yardage situations? If we can’t get across the goal-line when scrimmaging from the one, it’s going to be a long haul from now until the end of the season. Did you see what Montreal did on third down from inside the five yard-line? Roll the quarterback out and get creative.
August 21, 2009 | 03:24 PM
I thought because I’m heading to the game in Montreal on Friday, a game in which my CFL eight team stadium experience is complete, I would share my sentiments on the atmospheres of the eight venues across the CFL . . .
August 19, 2009 | 03:14 PM
I’m starting to get really worried about all the news I’m hearing out of Regina regarding the Andy Fantuz situation. I mentioned Monday that the ‘injury’ that’s been keeping Andy out of the line-up may not be an injury at all; he’s wanted to go east for quite some time now, and this may be the year he jets.
August 17, 2009 | 03:43 PM
Next time I think we should just skip halftime all together, because a) our coaches don’t seem able to make any halftime adjustments and b) we look like a completely different team that lacks any sort of intensity starting the third quarter this year. Despite the fact that we did manage, yet again, to give up a ridiculous lead, it was paramount that we found a way to win late - and we did
August 14, 2009 | 04:41 PM
You may all think I’m crazy, but I like to draw on past happenings to comfort myself as to where this Roughrider team is headed. Earlier in the season I talked about the fact that, after a disastrous loss in 2007 to the Edmonton Eskimos that had the Rider Nation panicking, Kent Austin rallied the troops for five straight wins. Well, it looked like we may have been headed in that same direction after a disastrous loss to the Eskimos this year, only to follow it up with an inspired win on the road in Calgary. Then came BC; my theory quickly evaporated at the hands of Gerran Walker bumbling a punt.
August 12, 2009 | 05:49 PM
To be quite frank, this weekend is going to be one of the biggest weekends the Riders have all season. Alright, I maybe being a little hyperbolic, but this weekend’s game against the Hamilton Tiger Cats is huge for so many reasons.
August 10, 2009 | 04:01 PM
I’m still fuming over that missed called by the officials regarding that debacle right before the half. I mentioned in Friday’s blog that crazy things always seem to happen when the Lions and Riders go at it, and that dropped punt, fumble, kick, and run to the end zone play was the craziest I’ve seen in a while.
August 07, 2009 | 03:42 PM
It’s hard to believe that it’s already game day… where did the week go? I sure hope the Riders aren’t feeling the same way, but with Monday being a holiday, coupled with the fact that Thursday was a travel day, the green and white’s preparation this week had to be quick and concise.
August 05, 2009 | 06:59 PM
There were still a lot of smiles around Rider camp at practice yesterday… can you blame them? All the guys I talked to, including head coach Ken Miller, went on and on about how big of character win this was for the team.
August 04, 2009 | 03:40 PM
Well on Friday I said that unless there was a little miracle at McMahon, I could not foresee the Riders winning on Saturday in Calgary; I think you could call that a bit of a miracle. What a game, what a gutsy effort, and what a character win by the green and white.
July 31, 2009 | 04:21 PM
Alright, so I may be stretching things here just a bit… but hear me out.
July 29, 2009 | 03:56 PM
In the wild and wicked world that is the speedy, or at least seemingly speedy, CFL season, there is no time at all to worry about what happened last week. Sure the Riders blew it big time against the Esks, and sure I want to dwell on it all week, but the reality is, is that there is a huge battle between our bitter rivals and us this Saturday. I’ll be heading out to Calgary for Saturday’s Western Division show-down, and to be quite honest, I’m not sure what to expect.
July 27, 2009 | 05:44 PM
What a complete collapse, and to be honest, it didn’t really ever feel like there was one. Some how a 22-0 nothing lead evaporated into an Eskimo lead, and I don’t really know how it happened. Methodical Eskimo drives, with a huge punt return wedged in between all of it, and the Riders and their fans were left stunned. Reminded me of a game in Edmonton a couple of years back where we had a 20-0 lead or something like that at halftime and never scored another point. What gives?
July 24, 2009 | 08:45 PM
Let’s face it, it is only the early part of the regular season, but these next three games are going to go a long way in deciding where the Riders finish at the end of the year. With the Esks, Stamps, Lions all on the schedule, the green and white have a huge opportunity to distance themselves from the rest of pack. That said, they are coming off their worst performance since last year’s West Final, and it begs the question, what team will we see tomorrow?
July 23, 2009 | 06:19 PM
As we inch close to the 1989 Reunion game this weekend, I can’t help but feel some sort of nostalgia towards toward everything Riders. If you really stop to think about it, 1989 might be the single biggest moment in Roughrider history as the team had missed the playoffs for far too many years consecutively, the ‘80’s saw bad crowds at the then Taylor Field, and the pride so well documented was at an all-time low. Well the boys are back in town this weekend, as the green and white get set to play the Eskimos in a huge Western Division showdown. Will the aura surrounding the park on Saturday be enough to will the Riders to victory?
July 20, 2009 | 03:11 PM
I’m not sure if my face was red as a result of the scorching hot sun, or the fact that I was a tad bit embarrassed by our Riders effort. Myself, along with the whole entire Rider Nation, have been humbled by the now 3-0 Montreal Alouettes. There’s no way you can sugarcoat this 43-10 drubbing, it was just plain ugly.
July 18, 2009 | 01:25 AM
If I would have told you that after three weeks to start the CFL season the Riders would have a two game lead on their next closest competitor for first place in the West, you may have wondered if I had cracked an ice cold beer a little too early. A Rider win over the Als tomorrow, and that is exactly the case, as the rest of the Western Division flounders in mediocrity. Doesn’t that word mediocrity seem all too familiar around these parts? Three season of 9-9 football had us die-hards wonderin’ if we’d ever see an above .500 record again, and yet, after back to back seasons of 12-6, Rider Pride has a bit of a swagger. I like it.
July 15, 2009 | 04:37 PM
Over the years of being a fan of this team it never ceases to amaze me how, and maybe dull isn’t the right word, but how subdued every one becomes when the Riders are winning. Suddenly the omnipresent quarterbacking controversies are quelled, concerns about the defense just don’t exist, and there isn’t a coach on the team being questioned; maybe that’s why when the Riders lose a game there’s such an onslaught of disgruntled fans. I love that we care, in fact, there isn’t another team in the league I would rather associate myself with because of passion, but I will say that the fanaticism gets a little much sometimes in lieu of a loss and results in bad situations (see cow manure).
July 13, 2009 | 06:50 PM
For a second it looked like the whole 11 am Saskatchewan start time was going to be a factor in the game, as the Riders looked like they were still asleep to begin what turned out to be one of the more enjoyable Rider games of late. Trailing 10-0 early on in the football game, the Riders bucked-up, and made Toronto look like a pretty mediocre team by the end of the game. That said, I think many of you, along with me, were probably going, uh oh, here we go again when we fell behind early.
July 10, 2009 | 03:38 PM
And that is exactly what Kerry Joseph is looking to serve up on Saturday afternoon in Toronto as the Saskatchewan Roughriders (1-0) get set to take on the Toronto Argonauts (1-0). Kick-off is scheduled for 1pm (EST), which means we’ll just be rolling over in our beds Saturday morning when they get the football game underway out East. I made mention to the fact that the Riders never seem to play well in these early morning Eastern time-zone games, let’s hope the trend doesn’t continue.
July 08, 2009 | 04:28 PM
Just when you thought things were going to be quiet on the quarterbacking front for a week in Riderville, there are some concerns going into this weekend’s game against the Argos. I was down at practice yesterday and with about a half an hour left in it, Darian Durant left due to hitting his throwing hand on the helmet of an offensive lineman, forcing him to leave. Durant looked to be in a fair bit of discomfort, and hand injuries like that can be nagging. We’ll see how that pans out in the coming days; If Durant can’t go, whom would you rather see? Steven Jyles or Dalton Bell?
July 06, 2009 | 04:52 PM
Wow.
I don’t even know where to begin when talking about the Riders 28-24 win on Friday night. Having been to many CFL games over the years, I don’t recall any one game being that wild. Despite the Riders turning over the ball eight times, BC returned the favour with 7 turnovers; it all equaled one big mess.
July 03, 2009 | 04:19 PM
I don’t care what anybody says, whether it’s the first game of the year or a game in late October, every one in the CFL is HUGE, especially when a divisional match-up is on the line. Tonight the Riders go up against the hated BC Lions; the wait is over fans, bring out all the clichés you want, because for the next 20-plus weekends our lives will be engulfed by the team wearing green and white jerseys; this is the 99th installment of our Saskatchewan Roughriders.
July 01, 2009 | 05:03 PM
Over the past few years the CFL has taken huge steps to improve the national brand of football in our country; tonight, they got it right again by starting the 2009 CFL regular season on the 142nd Birthday of Canada. There isn’t a more fitting way to lift the lid on four and a half months of football that lies ahead of us. I have been promising my season predictions for a while now, and today is the day.
June 29, 2009 | 03:38 PM
I was very surprised to find that the Riders were taking the weekend completely off. To be quite honest, I’m not sure if this was a good move by the organizations as it gets set for the 2009 regular season; the home and season-opener is this Friday night at 7pm against the B.C. Lions.
June 26, 2009 | 05:00 PM
I guess I never really realized it until yesterday’s practice just how up tight everybody was during training camp this year. Maybe with all the new coaches, roster spots that needed to be filled, and going 0-2 in the preseason, guys were feeling the pressure of playing in the fishbowl that is Regina and Riderviile.
June 24, 2009 | 08:57 PM
I hate the preseason… is there a way we can skip it entirely and just play for real? Last night’s final tune-up before the season opener next Friday was nothing short of dull; comparatively speaking to last week, I guess we were treated to a pretty good football game, however. Perhaps for me, the best part about last night’s game was being back at Mosaic Stadium, in my season ticket seat, on a beautiful prairie night for football.
June 22, 2009 | 10:16 PM
Henry Burris and those annoying 2008 Grey Cup Champion Calgary Stampeders are coming to town tomorrow, and I’m looking forward to seeing what the Riders can show. It’s going to be nice to be back at Mosaic Stadium on a summer evening to take in some CFL preseason action; let’s just hope it’s not as ugly as last week.
June 19, 2009 | 08:31 PM
Ok… the sky really isn’t falling. Let me take you back to almost exactly a year ago; the Riders traveled to Edmonton for a preseason game and got thumped 37-7. Everybody, or at least the casual observer, reached for the panic button, and uttered the words “here we go again.” The Riders then promptly started the REGULAR SEASON, when games mean something, 6-0. Of course, that said, yes, the Saskatchewan Roughriders got beat-up in the preseason again in Edmonton, this time losing embarrassingly 45-12 on Wednesday night.
June 17, 2009 | 10:27 PM
As I sat down to write this blog this morning, and wrote down the title, Game Day in Saskatchewan, this surreal feeling came over me; as agonizing as it can be sometimes being a Rider fan, and having to wait out that long cold off-season here in the province, it’s days like today that make it all worth while.
June 15, 2009 | 03:49 PM
It was a real treat to be on the sidelines all Saturday afternoon at Griffiths Stadium as the Saskatchewan Roughriders made their annual trip to the Bridge City; the turnout was overwhelming. When I pulled up to the park about 15 minutes before any of the Riders had come out of the locker room, a throng of fans waited anxiously with hats, flags, footballs, or whatever they could get their hands on to be autographed by their favourite players wearing the Green and White.
June 12, 2009 | 11:27 PM
First-off let me just get this whole Joe McGrath situation off my chest, because if you’re sharing the same sentiments as me today, you’re pretty puzzled by this latest move. If you haven’t heard, SASKATCHEWAN born player, Moose Jaw to be exact, and offensive linemen, Joe McGrath, was traded to Saskatchewan in February; yesterday, he asked to be traded back to the Eskimos…
June 11, 2009 | 05:26 PM
Perhaps the most interesting thing to come of my visit yesterday to training camp was a result of my chat with Quarterbacks coach Jim Baressi. Despite the fact that most of the headlines throughout camp up until now have endorsed Darian Durant as the unrivaled starter going into the season, my Rider-senses are tingling, and I think come the regular season there could be a different name leading this Rider offense.
June 08, 2009 | 05:24 PM
Training camp is on, people are talking, and everywhere you turn from now until the end of November, you will be bombarded by green and white news; I hope you don’t mind.
I’ve always wondered what it must be like for another CFL fan living in Saskatchewan, or for that matter, a non-CFL fan; there is no doubting the fact that at times Rider news can become exhausting in here in the wheat-province, and while for me I don’t care, what about you?
June 02, 2009 | 03:43 PM
Are We There Yet?
I hear the lawnmowers, smell the barbeque, and listen to the sprinklers purr back and forth; one thought comes to mind... Football season. The start of training camp for our Roughriders is just days away now, and I’m starving for some current, up-to-the-minute Rider debate. You can be sure that all the changes and new talent in Riderville will provide just that.
After one heck of a long off-season that once again supplied some unexpected circumstances, myself, along with every one of you I’m assuming, is anxiously optimistic and somewhat hesitant about the upcoming season.
58% of voters said the Riders will finish first this season.
