Two wins in a row. And wouldn't you know it? A good old fashioned QB controversy is brewing in Riderville. We have Kerry Joseph who we are paying huge dollars to and we have Ian "Rocky" Butler who has been third string forever. Joseph has shown me why Ottawa was a solid losing team for the last couple of years. Fumbles, indecisivness, and poor decisions. And it's not just me who thinks this. There are more and more people who are coming out and saying that Joseph is not half as good as the hype. OK is Rocky the real deal now? Who knows? Until a couple weeks ago I didn't think so. But the way he has played I think he deserves a shot at Winnipeg. Let's see what he can do against a half decent defense. I think that he can get the job done. And a big part of why he can get the job done is he can get the best out of the guys around him. The rest of the O plays harder for him. As much as it pains me to say it that is a mark of a real QB, bringing the best out in the talent around you. Joseph hasn't done that in this league yet. He's an elite athlete but that doesn't make him an elite QB.

Well the first winning streak of the year. And who was on the bench? Yeah Joseph!!! But back to the win.

Great play by the D. Total domination. Perry is a monster. Eddie Davis kicked some ass. Reggie played really solid.

And the O was wow. For anybody that knows me they know that I'm not a Rocky fan. But I'll give him some props. He has played well. And he has kept Joseph on the bench.

But I gotta tuck my son into bed so I'm gone for now.

I'm lazy so I decided to steal Jen's idea of just posting a pic or two. These are some pics we took at the Hamilton game last week. It reminded me of Labour Day a little bit with all the freaks coming in costume. I loved it!!! I probably had the third or fourth best costume on the practice field and it was great. It was fun running into Major Rider Fan again, I haven't seen him in costume since last Labour Day. And he added the skeleton mask to his outfit this year and a couple of cool loghts in his helmet. Awesome looking right now. And The Pirate is incredible. Great attention to detail. Even down to the Gainer on his shoulder instead of the parrot. And as always Sister Sask. was representing Saskatoon with pride. We need a couple dozen more freaks at EVERY game.
 

Well it's been a freaking crazy week in Riderville.
First we win big against Hamilton, and lose our backup QB for 4-6 weeks on a fluke injury. Get well soon Marcus. Then the rumours start and the forums go nuts. Monday afternoon the rumours are confirmed that Jim Hopson and the Board of Directors have fired Roy Shivers. If you haven't been paying attention I think that is one of the most stupid moves in Rider history, and there have been many. So anyway Roy does one interview with CBC and the shit hits the fan again. Some rednecks that weren't really paying attention twisted one of his quotes about the fans and it got ugly. All the vultures came out of hiding and the forums are mainly just crap piled on top of crap right now. One football thread and 10 anti-Roy threads. But I have always liked and respected Roy Shivers and that won't stop now. I wish him the best wherever he ends up. He always treated myself and my family really well and he was always good for telling you the truth even if you didn't really want to hear it. The truth is something I had gotten used to from the team. I have a feeling I will have to get used to "spin" really fast. Oh well. Thank you Roy and good luck.

Now we have a new GM. Mr.Eric Tillman, or Howdy Doody as I started calling him years ago and I just can't stop now. He really used to be the spitting image of Howdy Doody but he's growing out of it now. I know that the team hasn't played a game since he's been hired. So how did I end up in a picture with him and Condell in my full gear? Calgary road trip. Or I could say I'm just that good and knew what was going to happen a couple weeks ago. OK I have pics with most of the coaches and broadcasters league wide. So if Tillman decides to fire Barrett I am ready with a pic of me and the new coach, unless it's Austin. He keeps avoiding me.

Oh well I'm out of time now. And I really didn't say anything as usual. And for those that want to post a comment and wonder about the comment moderation thing don't worry. Your comment will still be posted but I have to OK them first. Not censor them just OK them. I had a bit of a problem with spammers in the last couple of days.

Anyway thanks for reading. 

OK I just listened to Sportsline on CKRM. Man Carteri sounded like he was having multiple orgasms on the air. But it was never a secret that he didn't get along with Roy. I'll try to keep this post a little bit cleaner than the last one but I'm still shocked and pissed off. The more that comes out about this the more it seems like it was a pissing contest between Roy and the board and Hopson. And you can never win a pissing contest if the other guy is willing to chop your pisser off. What a joke this decision is. Carteri and his "making this Saskatchewan's team again" comment made me throw up in my mouth a little bit. Oh well what can I do? I won't stop going to games. That would punish me and make no impact on the board. But I do have a ton of Rider merchandise so I will put off buying any more. So they don't get my cash for a new white jersey that I was going to buy with the money I save from quitting smoking. And the plan was to buy a Rider lottery ticket next week. That plan has changed. No lottery ticket this year. And our plan for buying a Rider share for every family member will be delayed for a while also. So me being just one fan might have a small impact. $500 for the rest of the season and maybe more. But we tend to spend more than the average fan. 

OK I missed my prediction by a few points. It wasn't 42-18 for the Riders. It was even better. 43-15 for the Riders. And that was with Rocky playing most of the game. If Marcus would have not got hurt we would have broken 50 easy. I hope that Marcus gets well real soon. He is a great QB and a really nice guy. And my man Kenton had an incredible game. Over 200 combined yards and 2 TDs. Just give him the ball and great things will happen. Anyway it's time for me to get some sleep. I'll update this thing on Monday because tomorrow is already booked. Go Riders.

OK it's the night before we beat Hamilton for the first time this year. And I have to post even though I have no clue what I'm posting about. I'm really trying to quit smoking and doing this will kill some time. Marcus Crandell is starting tomorrow. It's better late than never. He can get the job done and he's healthy so for the first time in weekes I'm not worried at all about a Rider game. The O will kick some ass and the D will destroy Hamilton. Nate Davis' parents are in town for the game so I expect a HUGE game out of him. It's not going to be pretty.

We got the chance today to talk to Corey Holmes. As always he was a fantastic guy. It's a shame how he is being misused in Hamilton this year. Oh well maybe we can pick him up again next year. I'll cheer my ass off when he is introduced at the game. But after the intros he's just another guy not wearing green. I'm hoping he gets tackled for losses every time he touches the ball. I actually told him that today, he laughed, he understands football fans.

Oh well the craving for a smoke has passed. My prediction for tomorrow is 42-18 Riders.

Hey after I blasted the team last night some people might think I don't like the team. That is far from the truth. I love the team. And one of the reason relates to the pics I posted with this. The team got back into town around 11:45 this morning and a bunch of them made an appearance at the North Central Family Centre at around 2:00. They could have bailed on the appearance and nobody would have blamed them. But they were out signing autographs and talking to the kids and making their day. The players that were there are Reggie Hunt, Mike Mccullough, Jeremy O'Day, Kerry Joseph, T.J. Stancil, Corey Grant, Mike Mahoney(looking like a guy off the street, nobody figured out he was a player), Scott Schultz, and Dustin C #22. No way I get Dustin's last name right so I'm not going to try. I hope I didn't forget anybody. The people in the pics are Corey Grant, Reggie Hunt, My Mom, Mike Mahoney, And T.J. Stancil. The other pic is of my neice Lisa and Reggie Hunt. It was a good time and the players were great with everybody. It's the little things like getting out in the community after a loss that make these guys so easy to like and admire. Great job guys. 

OK here is a fast post after a game. I was going to wait until tomorrow but what the hell.

Kerry Joseph should have had two weeks rest by now. He didn't get that rest and we lost two game because of it. Bad coaching. And horrible team play by Joseph. If you can't do the freaking job then be a team guy and say so. But hey what do you expect out of the league's fumble leader? This guy is the most over rated CFL player since Tony Rice. Yeah I said Tony Rice.

Mr. Joseph has never been a winner. And the way he has played so far this year makes me wonder if he ever will be. Why does everybody think that just because he put up some stats somewhere else that he is better than what we have? It's Saskatchewan thinking all over again. The only stats that matter are the W's. And he doesn't get them!!!!!!!!!

But our D kicked some serious ass tonight!!! My wife's man Big Nate was a force of nature again. I wouldn't want to be him in the morning. He has to have a LOT of painkillers in his system right now. And Fred Perry is an animal!! The guy is so good when Nate is playing well.

And now for my offensive player of the night. Without a doubt it's my man Kenton Keith. I will no longer use KK because he deserves to have his full name used. He is playing with so much heart. He doesn't deserve most of the shit that he takes but what the hell? I'm still a fan. And he knows it.

If we start Joseph next week then we are fucked. Yeah I said fucked. It's my Blog and I can swear when I want to. If you don't like then post a commment.

Marcus Crandell should start. If he doesn't then we are screwed. And yeah for those who know me you know that I like Marcus for personal reasons. He is a great guy with a great family. But I never, ever let personal feelings get in the way of football. Unlike some head coaches. He is simply our best chance of winning right now.

Well thanks for reading a majorly disjointed post tonight. It aint what you are used to reading from me but hey this aint what we SHOULD be used to watching from this team. But wear your Rider gear and hold your head up high all week. You know I will be.

And leave a comment. Thanks again.

OK this is one of those cliche games. Must win, backs to the wall, two desperate teams, yadda yadda yadda. We have the chance to go two games up on the Evil Empire with a win. And a loss moves them even with us. Everybody knows this. But can the team deliver? That's the question!! And I hope the answer is yes. I'm so tired of being pissed off about lost opportunities. I want to be happy!! I want to walk around in my Rider gear every day and not take crap from people.

So how does the team pull out this win? Score early!!! Give the D a lead to work with and we win this game. Coming from behind makes for an entertaining game but being ahead by a couple TDs makes for lower blood pressure. The key to this game is Kerry Joseph. If he plays well we win. If he looks the same as the last few games we are screwed. But screw it I'll be postive. Joseph will be fine, or Barrett will make the change in time. Give KK a dozen touches and control the clock. Pressure Ray all night long.

And now I will write about the idiots that I experienced in Calgary. There weren't a lot of them but the ones that I'm writing about made up for the lack of numbers. The first group of idiots were unfortunately Rider fans. We were at the game and a Stamps fan was loud, annoying, and offensive all game long. But hey, what can you expect in the other team's stadium? You know before you buy that you are going to run into a few of those guys. So anyway a few of the fans wearing green decided that they were big manly men and that they should prove it by throwing beer cans at him while hiding in the crowd. I lost it on one of those wimpy, pansy, no dick fucking losers and left my seat because I was ashamed to be anywhere close to assholes like that. Because one of the beer cans that they threw was at least 3/4 full and hit the Stamps fan's wife in the head. I went and checked on her and apologised for being in anyway associated with those losers. No class. And if any of those guys are getting this read to them by someone with more than their third grade education I have two words for you, Fuck You!!

Now for the second loser of the trip. My wife and I had just left the Keg and wandered over to the Macs store near there. I was outside finishing my smoke and a guy walks by and beaks a little bit to me. Nothing major. He goes into the store and I'm not really paying much attention. I finish my smoke and look in and see him getting in my wifes face. I go inside and he's being a major asshole to my wife. He started in on her as soon as he got into the store and finally she hit him on the arm with my flagpole. As soon as he seen me come in he tried backing down. But he picked the wrong woman to be an asshole to. Nobody, not even my best friend gets away with making my wife cry. I told him to apologise and he decided to push me. Which made my night. Lots of security cams in the store that would have helped me if the cops came. He pushed and went backwards, I wasn't giving any ground to a goof like him. I ditched my cape and matched him push for push. I got him back to the door and I think he squeeked out an apology before he left. I wanted to go outside and hurt him. But my wife stopped me. I guess that was a good thing because there was a cop car in the parking lot.

OK here is my post about Saturday's game. Unacceptable play by the offense. Two field goals and a single all game. Calgary did everything they could to let us win that game and we couldn't score. Joseph took that monster hit and the game was over. He was inconsistant after that and should have sat. And that's the head coaches call. So as much as I didn't want to join the rampaging mob screaming for Barrett's head I see no other way that this team will get it together. The talent on this team deserves better coaching. They want to win. The D is finally starting to play like they can and we should have won that game easy. Too frustrating still to break this game down any more detailed. Maybe later in the week. Thanks for reading.

I can't post anything about the Calgary game yet. I'm still getting pissed off thinking about the bad play and a few idiots that we had the misfortune to meet this weekend. But the bustrip was still an amazing time thanks to the young uns that came along. I'll post more later about the game, the idiots and the good time on the bus.