Sheri Trapp. If you have taken in a game at Taylor Field(sorry it's always going to be named that to me, but thanks for the cash Mosaic) in the last couple of years you know who she is. She is the Maxtron Girl to most of you. And every time something happens on the Maxtron that isn't good she takes the blame. The camera switches to her and there is dead air it's her fault. The trivia question is wrong, her fault again. The fan she is giving a prize to is lame, blame Sheri. The promo's that she has to introduce are ridiculous, Sheri again. The screen is screwed up, Sheri's fault. They go to her for a giveaway right before a play starts, well you figured it out, her fault again.

I really am getting tired of the Sheri bashers. She is a great lady who works damn hard for the Riders. Along with her Maxtron duties she is involved in the Communications and Marketing departments of the Riders. If there is an event that the team is involved with take a look around and you will see Sheri there. And you can be sure that before she showed up at that event she had already put a lot of hours in that day. But because she is the face on the Maxtron everybody assumes that's all she does.

Has it occured to anybody that what she reads on the Maxtron during a game comes from somebody else? It does. The producer, Bill Wright if I'm not mistaken, gives her the instructions and it's her JOB to follow them. What happens at your job if the boss tells you to do something? You do it or you don't have that job. Same thing for Sheri but she does part of her job LIVE in front of 25,000 people. And anytime you are doing a LIVE broadcast things will go wrong. But even after the disastrous technical problems during the last game Sheri was on the screen smiling. She did her job knowing that some people would be blaming her for things that are out of her control. Could you do that in front of a live crowd and still smile? She did. And that shows how much professionalism and guts that she has.

So what I'm saying is that if you want to complain about how the Maxtron show is running during a game then at least complain about the right people. Sheri is the face and voice of the Maxtron but she has very little control over what happens once a game starts. Has she made some mistakes? You bet.(Most Offensive Lineman, that was hilarious) But overall she does a very good job and doesn't deserve the crap that people say about her.

As always I don't know if I made any sense writing this but I had to put these thoughts somewhere. Thanks for reading.

Elation. That's the feeling this week. The Riders got back to .500 and they did it by playing a full 60 minutes. It wasn't pretty at times. And the offense looked shaky for the first 3 quarters. But the defense held and gave the O a chance to get it together. When they got it together it was beautiful. 103 yard drive to score the go ahead TD. My man Jamel Richardson had another great game. He got the chance to show what he can do in the open field and turned it into 6. (I told you he would be great this year Jay). Kerry Joseph was hot and cold again. I want to be a fan of his but he is not making it easy. He's trying to win the game by himself when he should just relax and let the other guys make some plays. He's got a ton of talent but is playing too tense. I hope he calms down because when he does this team will put up some major points and wins.

The D wasn't perfect either but they did what they had to do. And they looked like they got stronger as the game went on. And for anybody that hadn't noticed B.C. is still a very good team. Eddie Davis came through at the end and turned TF into a mad house. The part time fans who left early missed a classic CFL ending. Too bad for them. Fred Perry was a monster, he's picking it up where he left off last year. Kitwana Jones delivered on what he told me he was going to do at the walkthrough on Saturday. He is a pretty intense guy to talk football with. And he has the talent. Right now we have 4 and a half very, very good linebackers. If Jackie Mitchell can get and stay healthy we have 5. We have a bye week so I hope he's getting some treatment on the off days because he's fantastic when healthy but he hasn't stayed healthy for long enough. The Reaper didn't get a lot of action this week but that's because they weren't dumb enough to go his way. It's just a matter of time before he gets the stats this year. He is half a step away on his blitzes right now and B.C. gets the ball off fast. Smilin Hank doesn't have the quick release so next game watch him get knocked around by Reaper.

And I can't finish this thing off without mentioning Luca Congi. The kid is the real deal. He WILL hit a FG of over 55 yards this year. He has that much leg. And his punting has improved. He still has that little hop in his approach but it's less than it was at training camp. I think our kicking game is solid for the next decade.

And if you haven't bought your tickets for the July 8 Rider game hurry up!! I have heard from a few very good sources that this game is selling fast. The surviving members of the 1966 Grey Cup championship team will be in attendance. These guys deserve a full house standing ovation. I'll be there and if you see me come and say hi.

Disappointment. That pretty much sums up my feelings after the first Rider game of the year. B.C. pretty much moved the ball and scored at will on Friday night. The defense has been the backbone of the team for years and that backbone could have used a chiropractor this week. I don't know why but the DB's were getting beat like rented mules all night long. No pass rush to speak of either. It was like they had our defensive playbooks and knew how to beat it. And the O looked shaky. No rushing game to speak of and KJ was out of sync with the receivers. And our O-line that is usually the best in the league looked like crap. Even a buddy of mine who is not really a football guy was shocked by the O-line play.
So that pretty much covers the basics of what was wrong. Add in a very questionable non-review call by Barrett and pretty much every phase of the game except for special teams stunk up the joint.
So will I jump on the "this season is toast" bandwagon? Not a chance. At least not yet. For those that don't know the CFL schedule is 18 games long. And 6 out of 8 teams WILL make the playoffs. Add in the fact that the new look O was only being practiced for just over a week and things aren't as bad as they appear.
The special teams looked pretty good this week. Congi went 2-3 on FG's and punted pretty good. Dorsey put up major all purpose yards, and I really wasn't a fan of his but I'm coming around. Matt Dominguez is back!! There was no rust at all out there. Jamal Richardson was hot and cold. He made a great catch and bobbled some others, but still caught them. I know he will turn into a real impact player this year. Jason Armstead was half a step away from highlight reel catches, but that half a step was an incompletion. He gets a few more chances like that and the whole offense opens up. KK was not used enough to know if he could have made an impact. He has amazing talent. Use it dammit!!! Kerry Joseph showed flashes of brilliance to go with some bad brain farts. But give him a week and the flashes will turn into a fire.
I won't touch on what the D has to do better. Because they are veterans and know what they have to do. Richie Hall is a very good defensive coordinator and he won't stand for another outing like Friday's. I'm not worried about the D, yet.
The coaching has to get theirselves together. The new coaches and the entrenched coaches have to get on the same page quickly. They have to gell just as much as the players do. And if they don't then we are in major trouble. But I won't jump on the "dump the coaches" wagon yet either. Danny has to step up and get his assistants behind him. Because they are the only ones who's opinion of his leadership matters.
It's early and I still believe this is a 11-7 team minimum. And I can't wait for Sunday. But having a long week to wait is a good thing for me. I hope we have cool nights all week so I can wear my Fathers Day present every night. My wife and kids got me a leather Riders jacket. Greatest gift ever!!! Greatest family a man could ever ask for.
And my last point for now. If you own a dog and walk it without a leash please take it to the Humane Society right now. Then maybe the dog will have a chance to live with somebody who really cares about it. Regina IS a city with lots of cars. And dogs are curious. If they see something across the street they will check it out. And maybe get hit. We have almost run over a few small dogs in town with idiot owners. If you want to take your dog off of it's leash there is a park for that near the Callie Curling Club.