A little late getting this done today. I tried to drink the memory of that game away. It didn't work. I can still remember most of it.


Anybody that didn't watch the game and just seen the score would think the Riders played OK. But the score flattered them. The special teams allowed a punt return TD by Levinston. And that wasn't good play by Toronto it was bad tackling by the Riders. The D managed to give up three big plays all night, but that was all it took to lose. But does the blame for this game go on the D? Not a chance. They also put up 5 sacks and had good pressure all night. The two guys on D who really got schooled last night were Morgan and Davis. I thought I was in a time warp when Morgan gave up that long one right in front of me. Almost exactly like the one he gave up right in front of me against Montreal last year. Bad timing, bad positioning, bad play. Losing McCalla hurt this D. And Eddie Davis giving up that long one is inexcusable. He simply got outran and Jackie Mitchell just managed to get in the way. But like I said the D played well for the most part, only allowed 19 points so we could have won.


Now for the O. The numbers look very good for Kerry Joseph, 26-38 for 405 yards. But this time the numbers lie. Sorry all you KJ fans but he should have been pulled about the middle of the second quarter. Brutal play to start the game, again. He put up 266 yards passing in the fourth quarter. That means he just managed 139 yards total in the first three quarters. Not good enough to stay in the game. If Nealon put up those sort of 3/4 numbers the pitchforks would have been out and the manure trucks would have been loading up. He is slow making his decisions and it shows in the amount of sacks and hits he's taking. He is making a very good offensive line look very bad. He shuffles his feet and pats the ball and looks like a highschool QB for most of a game. He has all the physical tools but the coaches HAVE to work with him a lot. And damn it Kerry get a better grip on that ball. They only charged him with one fumble but he put it on the carpet at least 3 more times, I had a good view when he got sacked a couple of times close to my seats(front row gives a nice close up of those plays). But it was nice to see MattD get some yards and Corey Grant finally got thrown to. And they finally used KK. Keep giving him the touches and he will break through. A dozen a game is just about the minimum.


And now for the real reason for the loss. Piss poor coaching. I've supported Barrett before but he just isn't getting any better. He will NEVER pull a cold QB, he makes excuses about the receivers running bad patterns, the line not blocking, the wind, the refs, the sun got in his eyes, or the fans. But really he is just afraid to put in the backup. And our backup is the guy that 90% of fans wanted as our starter this year before the Ottawa fiasco happened. Crandell is the guy that Barret had annointed as the starter when we had a 9 team league. And now he's afraid to goto the bullpen. Not encouraging. And here is my major bitch about the coaching last night. Down by 15 with just under 6 minutes left. It's third and ten and in FG position. And he goes for it. DUMB DUMB DUMB. I told the security guy next to me that we would lose by a FG after that. He didn't agree. I was right. If it was third and less than 4 then try to get the first down. Ten yards is tough to pick up with three tries, very very tough with one. When you are down by more than 2 TD's you take the three points and hope for another chance to score. I let a very loud FUCK lose after that, and I don't often swear at games because there are too many kids around me. I apologised afterwards.


Anyway I hope that Wynn is alright. It's a physical game and injuies happen but I hope he recovers quickly. As for RickyW, if he was at home serving his suspension like he should be then he wouldn't have a broken arm. Sounds cold I know but that has always been my opinion about his situation. He knew the rules, broke them then got special treatment in order to play for Toronto. And he knew the risks involved in playing professional football and choose to play.


And I have to thank Rod Pedersen for putting the pic of me from the CFL.ca site on his blog today. Very cool Rod, except that "superfan" thing always bugs me. I'm no superfan, just a guy in makeup at Rider games. But thanks anyway. And if you don't check out his blog here is the address http://rodpedersen.blogspot.com/ It's always a good read and a fantastic way to keep up with local sports.
And for anybody that is interested in going to Calgary for the Riders-Stamps game August 5 the Rider Alliance is putting on a bustrip. The price is $165 per person and includes bus, hotel and game ticket. Check it out http://www.riderville.com/modules.php?name=News&file=news_dispatches&f_subcat=press_releases&archive=1&sid1=8058 My wife and I will be there. In full costume showing the Green and White in Calgary.

Anyway thanks for reading my hungover ramblings.