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Monday, November 30, 2009
RIDERS IN SHOCK AND MOURNING
After being welcomed home by about 1,000 cheering Saskatchewan Roughrider fans on Monday afternoon, players leave the turf at Mosaic Stadium for the final time this season. The Riders lost in the Grey Cup 28-27 to the Montreal Alouettes in Calgary on Sunday.
Photograph by: Bryan Schlosser, Leader-Post
Photograph by: Bryan Schlosser, Leader-Post
REGINA — Saskatchewan Roughriders players usually cannot wait to get on the field in front of a horde of the CFL team's devotees at Mosaic Stadium. Monday was not one of those days.
Clearly appreciative of the support, players walked to the stage set up at midfield as some 1,500 fans cheered from the west-side grandstand, Sunday's 28-27 loss in the Grey Cup game after a second-chance, last-second field goal by Montreal Alouettes kicker Damon Duval still fresh in everyone's mind.
The setting for Monday's homecoming was entirely the same for the Roughriders' return in 2007 after they defeated the Winnipeg Blue Bombers 23-19 to win the Grey Cup. This time there was an obvious lack of excitement on behalf of the Roughriders, who in a matter of two minutes Sunday went from thinking they were CFL champions to barely being able to comprehend what had just happened.
But while there was little enthusiasm from the players, that of the fans was not far off from two years ago.
"I was really surprised (players) actually could (be there)," said Reginan Ron Thomas. "I don't think any of us have any idea the work, the preparation, that went into this and the total devastation these guys must feel. It must have been one of the hardest thing to put in that brief appearance. It's wonderful they did it, though. Everybody really appreciated it."
"I was really surprised (players) actually could (be there)," said Reginan Ron Thomas. "I don't think any of us have any idea the work, the preparation, that went into this and the total devastation these guys must feel. It must have been one of the hardest thing to put in that brief appearance. It's wonderful they did it, though. Everybody really appreciated it."
After players took the stage, chairman Rob Pletch, president and CEO Jim Hopson, veteran centre Jeremy O'Day, quarterback Darian Durant and head coach Ken Miller each made quick speeches to thank their co-workers and the fans.
"It's one of the most difficult things to come up here after a difficult loss like that," O'Day told the gathering, most of whom were decked out like any other game day. "I'd be lying to say we're not hurting."
The game's finale, which saw Duval miss his first field-goal attempt but get a second chance when the Roughriders were flagged for having 13 players on the field, left the entire Rider Nation — and many other CFL fans — in shock.
The game's finale, which saw Duval miss his first field-goal attempt but get a second chance when the Roughriders were flagged for having 13 players on the field, left the entire Rider Nation — and many other CFL fans — in shock.
While the shock for some fans was beginning to wear off by Monday morning, it did not seem the same could be said for Roughriders players.
"That game is something that's going to stay with us for a long time," O'Day said as players left the field, with fans still cheering loudly. "It's not going to go away real quick. It's the toughest way you can ever lose a sporting event so it's going to stick with us for a while. But this team will bounce back. It always has.
"(Monday's crowd) means a lot. It's a been a pretty quiet morning and night so it's nice to see everyone still behind us. Not a lot of guys were looking forward to coming out here on the stage, but after we were out here, it helped us."
RIDER PRIDE LIVES ON !!!
INDIAN HEAD CURLING RINK
FROM MESA ARIZONA
WESTJET PILOT
IT WAS A VERY DISAPPOINTING LOSS, BUT WE WILL LIVE TO PLAY AGAIN
GO RIDERS
NIGHTMARE ENDING FOR RIDERS
By Rob Vanstone, Leader-PostNovember 30, 2009
CALGARY — The 13th man made all the difference.
Just when Saskatchewan Roughriders fans thought they had seen and endured it all, the 97th Grey Cup was played Sunday at McMahon Stadium.
The Roughriders had it won. Saskatchewan players were streaming on to the field as the clock hit zero, celebrating what appeared to be the fourth Grey Cup in the history of the beloved CFL franchise, when ... uh, hold on. No, it can't be.
Too many men on the field, Saskatchewan.
Damon Duval had lined up for a 43-yard field goal, only to falter. There was pandemonium on the Roughriders' bench, as flags flew. It turned out that 13 Roughriders, one more than was permissible, were on the field for Duval's errant attempt. The ball was moved ahead 10 yards, to the horror of a predominantly pro-Saskatchewan crowd of 46,020. Duval tried again, from 10 yards closer, and the kick was true.
Montreal 28, Saskatchewan 27. The game was over but, back in Saskatchewan, the longest winter was merely beginning.
In a season of surprises, most of which were exhilarating for denizens of the Rider Nation, who could have possibly imagined this? Even the longest-suffering Roughriders fans, who have weathered an assortment of low moments, have not experienced anything quite like the excruciating events of Sunday.
In nearly 100 years of existence, the Riders have celebrated four Grey Cups, but have won only three. The latest celebration lasted mere seconds, which exacerbates the devastation.
"It's just total, 100-per-cent disappointment,'' a disconsolate Ken Miller, the Roughriders' head coach, said shortly after Sunday's shocker. "The disappointment of this loss is going to last for each of us for as long as we are on the planet.''
Appropriately, Duval's winning kick was from 33 yards away. It was 33 years (and one day) earlier when Tony Gabriel's last-minute touchdown catch became an infamous moment in Roughriders history.
Twenty seconds remained when Tom Clements found Gabriel in the end zone from 24 yards away. That play — that nightmarish play — gave the Ottawa Rough Riders a 23-20 victory over Saskatchewan at Exhibition Stadium in Toronto on Nov. 28, 1976.
Back then, as on Sunday, the Roughriders' offence failed on its final possession. In 1976, the Roughriders handed off twice to Tom Campana for negligible yardage before punting away the ball, setting the stage for Gabriel's game-winning major. On Sunday at McMahon Stadium, the Roughriders were clinging to a 27-25 lead when they assumed possession on their 12-yard line with 1:39 remaining. The first play — a handoff to Wes Cates — went nowhere. On second-and-10, Darian Durant hit Rob Bagg for four irrelevant yards. Punt.
Montreal began its final possession with 40 seconds left — in 1976, Ottawa's final drive commenced with 44 seconds remaining — and marched into field-goal range.
You know the rest. You will be hearing about it for days. Months. Years. For as long as it takes for the Roughriders to advance to another Grey Cup and erase the pain of Sunday.
After 1976, the Roughriders missed the playoffs for 11 successive seasons, and it took them another 13 years to win the second Grey Cup in franchise history (23 years to the day after the landmark conquest of 1966). Saskatchewan waited another 18 years before Kent Austin and friends engineered that elusive third title.
This time around, the Green and White was agonizingly close to a second championship in three years, a pronounced contrast to the once-in-a-generation happening that has become a Saskatchewan championship season.
The Roughriders stood toe to toe with a nine-point favourite — assuming a 27-11 lead with slightly more than 10 minutes remaining — before Anthony Calvillo rallied the Alouettes. Calvillo's opposite number, Durant, was on the verge of attaining legendary status in his first full CFL season as a starting quarterback.
There will likely be other opportunities for Durant and his teammates, considering the standards that have been established in the past three seasons. They were one forehead-slapper of a miscue away from engineering a monumental Grey Cup upset, only to deal with "upset'' in an entirely different context as they smashed helmets into the turf, stunned and disbelieving.
"We just have to look forward to next year,'' Durant said. "This is going to be a tough one to swallow, but time heals all wounds. It's just going to take a little time. There's always tomorrow and there's always next year.
It's just a little added motivation to come back and get it right.''
There is considerable hope for the future, given the team's talent level and its many unexpected successes in 2009. But, for the Roughriders and their fans, that is of little solace in the present.
rvanstone@leaderpost.canwest.com
CALGARY — The 13th man made all the difference.
Just when Saskatchewan Roughriders fans thought they had seen and endured it all, the 97th Grey Cup was played Sunday at McMahon Stadium.
The Roughriders had it won. Saskatchewan players were streaming on to the field as the clock hit zero, celebrating what appeared to be the fourth Grey Cup in the history of the beloved CFL franchise, when ... uh, hold on. No, it can't be.
Too many men on the field, Saskatchewan.
Damon Duval had lined up for a 43-yard field goal, only to falter. There was pandemonium on the Roughriders' bench, as flags flew. It turned out that 13 Roughriders, one more than was permissible, were on the field for Duval's errant attempt. The ball was moved ahead 10 yards, to the horror of a predominantly pro-Saskatchewan crowd of 46,020. Duval tried again, from 10 yards closer, and the kick was true.
Montreal 28, Saskatchewan 27. The game was over but, back in Saskatchewan, the longest winter was merely beginning.
In a season of surprises, most of which were exhilarating for denizens of the Rider Nation, who could have possibly imagined this? Even the longest-suffering Roughriders fans, who have weathered an assortment of low moments, have not experienced anything quite like the excruciating events of Sunday.
In nearly 100 years of existence, the Riders have celebrated four Grey Cups, but have won only three. The latest celebration lasted mere seconds, which exacerbates the devastation.
"It's just total, 100-per-cent disappointment,'' a disconsolate Ken Miller, the Roughriders' head coach, said shortly after Sunday's shocker. "The disappointment of this loss is going to last for each of us for as long as we are on the planet.''
Appropriately, Duval's winning kick was from 33 yards away. It was 33 years (and one day) earlier when Tony Gabriel's last-minute touchdown catch became an infamous moment in Roughriders history.
Twenty seconds remained when Tom Clements found Gabriel in the end zone from 24 yards away. That play — that nightmarish play — gave the Ottawa Rough Riders a 23-20 victory over Saskatchewan at Exhibition Stadium in Toronto on Nov. 28, 1976.
Back then, as on Sunday, the Roughriders' offence failed on its final possession. In 1976, the Roughriders handed off twice to Tom Campana for negligible yardage before punting away the ball, setting the stage for Gabriel's game-winning major. On Sunday at McMahon Stadium, the Roughriders were clinging to a 27-25 lead when they assumed possession on their 12-yard line with 1:39 remaining. The first play — a handoff to Wes Cates — went nowhere. On second-and-10, Darian Durant hit Rob Bagg for four irrelevant yards. Punt.
Montreal began its final possession with 40 seconds left — in 1976, Ottawa's final drive commenced with 44 seconds remaining — and marched into field-goal range.
You know the rest. You will be hearing about it for days. Months. Years. For as long as it takes for the Roughriders to advance to another Grey Cup and erase the pain of Sunday.
After 1976, the Roughriders missed the playoffs for 11 successive seasons, and it took them another 13 years to win the second Grey Cup in franchise history (23 years to the day after the landmark conquest of 1966). Saskatchewan waited another 18 years before Kent Austin and friends engineered that elusive third title.
This time around, the Green and White was agonizingly close to a second championship in three years, a pronounced contrast to the once-in-a-generation happening that has become a Saskatchewan championship season.
The Roughriders stood toe to toe with a nine-point favourite — assuming a 27-11 lead with slightly more than 10 minutes remaining — before Anthony Calvillo rallied the Alouettes. Calvillo's opposite number, Durant, was on the verge of attaining legendary status in his first full CFL season as a starting quarterback.
There will likely be other opportunities for Durant and his teammates, considering the standards that have been established in the past three seasons. They were one forehead-slapper of a miscue away from engineering a monumental Grey Cup upset, only to deal with "upset'' in an entirely different context as they smashed helmets into the turf, stunned and disbelieving.
"We just have to look forward to next year,'' Durant said. "This is going to be a tough one to swallow, but time heals all wounds. It's just going to take a little time. There's always tomorrow and there's always next year.
It's just a little added motivation to come back and get it right.''
There is considerable hope for the future, given the team's talent level and its many unexpected successes in 2009. But, for the Roughriders and their fans, that is of little solace in the present.
rvanstone@leaderpost.canwest.com
Sunday, November 29, 2009
RIDERS ARE THE PEOPLES CHOICE TO WIN THE GREY CUP
CALGARY - It could be any one of a number of elements. An electrifying kick return from Jason Armstead. A last-play kick from Luca Congi. Bruise Brothers Stevie Baggs and John Chick arriving together, and in ill humour, on Anthony Calvillo's doorstep at a decisive moment. An off-the-cuff Darian Durant scramble inside the red-zone.
Or, who knows, it might be something as offbeat, as insignificant, as 2,000 calories of sugar-impacted creamy goodness.
''My lucky cheesecake,'' explained Saskatchewan Roughriders defensive back Eddie Davis. ''I always eat a piece of lucky cheesecake the night before a big game. I've been doing it since college. Got to have my cheesecake. Superstition, I guess.
''So my wife's made a cheesecake and I'm taking it back to the room tonight.
''Could've ordered room service, I suppose. But my wife's cheesecake is better than anything you can get at a hotel.''
''Could've ordered room service, I suppose. But my wife's cheesecake is better than anything you can get at a hotel.''
Saves $10 or so, too.
Eddie could use that ten-spot to slap down on the Riders' nose.
Given the line, he might win enough to stock the fridge with enough cheesecake to last from now until Canada Day.
Given the line, he might win enough to stock the fridge with enough cheesecake to last from now until Canada Day.
''We are confident. Very confident,'' said Stevie Baggs, a rush end, following Saskatchewan's final walk-through dress-rehearsal early Saturday afternoon. ''In ourselves. In our game plan. But it's often said: The person who exalts is humbled; the person who is humble is exalted.
''A year and a half ago, I was out of football, back home. And now I'm playing in the Grey Cup Game. I feel blessed. The week has been tiring, exciting.
''But when we step out on that (field), it's time to get it done.''
With due deference to the tourists from next door and their insatiable appetite to party, what has most characterized this Grey Cup week is, frankly, a deadening air of predictability. The Makin' Whoopee question concluded the annual head coaches media conference on Wednesday. As always.
Als evergreen pivot Anthony Calvillo managed a feat at the CFL Awards soiree that no defence in the league could over 18 weeks - slam the brakes on Joffrey Reynolds' runaway train. As expected.
Commissioner Mark Cohon two-stepped around the sensitive Canadian/import ratio question as if auditioning for a spot on So You Think You Can Dance Canada. Well, now there's a shocker.
It snowed. Of course.
It snowed. Of course.
By the walk-throughs, the media mob had run dry of fresh questions and the players were understandably short on coherent answers. Natch.
But there's one intangible that has the power to lift the 97th edition out of the ordinary and into the realm of happening: A Saskatchewan Roughriders victory.
Nothing whatsoever against the Montreal Alouettes intended, understand. General manager Jim Popp and head coach Marc Trestman can take luxurious bows for building and then improving upon a first-class organization; the envy of all. They've conducted themselves here with pristine professionalism. Athletes as gifted and classy as Calvillo, Ben Cahoon, Anwar Stewart and Scott Flory deserve to be spared such habitual Grey Cup heartache, and forced into answering the same numbing questions trip after blessed trip to the big game.
The 15-3 Als seem superior in virtually every facet. They exude the sort of the destiny-fulfilled aura instantly recognizable in past champions.
And yet . . .
''This is one game for all the marbles,'' pointed out Riders kindly coach Ken Miller. ''History doesn't matter. Statistics don't matter. When we tee it up and kick the football off, it's just one game between two good football teams.
''I have a good feeling about it, yes.''
After watching the revitalized Calvillo kill the spirit and then autopsy the corpse of the B.C. Lions last week, the Riders are being given as much chance Sunday as one of the those quick-pay ''contenders'' Mike Tyson used to flatten during his murderous reign as heavyweight champion. Most analysts consider them the football equivalent of, say, Pinklon Thomas or Tony Tubbs.
But if they're not the bettor's picks, they're certainly the people's choice. All the fence-sitters across this land seem to have invested emotionally, for at least one day, in the Riders.
When asked why he felt that was so, Miller's response drew a big laugh: ''Well, we're a nice bunch of guys.''
If the two lopsided losses inflicted by the Als earlier this season had done any lasting psychological damage on that nice bunch of guys, they haven't let on this week.
If the two lopsided losses inflicted by the Als earlier this season had done any lasting psychological damage on that nice bunch of guys, they haven't let on this week.
''We're calm. We're confident. But once we hit that field, we'll channel all our pent-up emotion towards the Montreal Alouettes,'' said Davis, supported Sunday by his dad Eddie I, in from St. Louis, and his infant son, Eddie III.
''Besides, no pressure on our shoulders.'' A conspiratorial wink. ''We haven't got a snowball's chance in hell, right?''
When Mark Messier arrived in the Big Apple specifically to end an agonizing half-century title drought at MSG, he wasn't shy about admitting he drifted off to sleep at night fantasizing about the thrill of a Stanley Cup parade down Broadway. Durant understands where Mess was coming from.
''You have to visualize something before it happens,'' explained the quarterback on the hot seat Sunday. ''See it in your mind. Play it out in your head.''
Funny, but Baggs has been seeing the same movie over and over in his head.
''We'll do whatever it takes,'' he vowed. ''Whatever we need. We've got to stay strong and resilient. The smallest detail, one you don't even think of, could end up being the difference.''
''We'll do whatever it takes,'' he vowed. ''Whatever we need. We've got to stay strong and resilient. The smallest detail, one you don't even think of, could end up being the difference.''
As small, as insignificant, say, as a slice of Mrs. Davis' lucky cheesecake?
In spite of overwhelming odds, the 97th Grey Cup could yet provide a spectacular, unpredictable ending. A green ending.
''We know the blood, sweat and tears shed to get to this point,'' said Durant, gently defiant. ''We're approaching the game the way we did the last two against Calgary, when the stakes were huge, too.
''These guys are my guys. Soldiers. Warriors. I wouldn't trade them for anybody.
''These guys are my guys. Soldiers. Warriors. I wouldn't trade them for anybody.
''We deserve to be here. We know that.
''Now we have to show the world.''
Calgary Herald
gjohnson@theherald.canwest.com
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RIDERS ARE READY !!!!
DURANT AND OFFENSE
SHOLOGAN AND DEFENSE
STEVIE
DARIAN
GERRAN WALKER
STEVIE !!!!
CONGI
EDDIE
O-LINE
RIDERS ARE READY TO WIN THEIR FOURTH GREY CUP !!!!
GO RIDERS GO
Saturday, November 28, 2009
BAGG IS GOOD !!!!!!!!!
Roughriders' Rob Bagg (left) makes a catch in front of Stampeders' Milt Collins during West Final in Regina on Sunday.
Photograph by: TODD KOROL, REUTERS, Canwest News Service
Photograph by: TODD KOROL, REUTERS, Canwest News Service
Rob Bagg watched the CFL draft unfold via the Internet in the spring of 2007, surrounded by family, waiting for his name to show.
That it didn't was crushing -- but, given his career trajectory since then, not too crushing.
"I mourned for a couple of days," recalls Bagg, a Queen's University product who will start at wide receiver for the Saskatchewan Roughriders when they play the Montreal Alouettes in Sunday's Grey Cup.
"I mourned for a couple of days," recalls Bagg, a Queen's University product who will start at wide receiver for the Saskatchewan Roughriders when they play the Montreal Alouettes in Sunday's Grey Cup.
That mourning stopped when Roughriders' general manager Eric Tillman phoned him with an offer to sign as a free agent. The unheralded Bagg made the team that summer, but elected to return to Queen's in Kingston, Ont., for one final season.
Last year, he cracked the roster again and with the Riders struggling with injuries at receiver, found himself plugged into the lineup.
A 146-yard game in Week 13 flashed his potential. This year he followed up by catching 59 balls for 807 yards and five touchdowns. Bagg added three catches for 73 yards and a touchdown in last weekend's West Division championship win over Calgary.
"I've had a little bit more success than guys who were drafted, so I feel like I've started to prove people wrong," Bagg said. "And once you're at this level, it doesn't matter how you got here; it's whether or not you're here. And that's how I'm looking at it.
"As soon as you stop proving yourself they'll find somebody younger who's going to go out and play harder. I'm definitely going to take the attitude that people are always going to doubt me and that I'm going to have to play my best football all the time to stay in this league."
Despite a very good Canadian college career at Queen's, Bagg never played in a Vanier Cup. To Bagg's delight, many of his old teammates are doing just that this weekend, when they play the Calgary Dinos in Saturday's Vanier Cup.
He'll watch as much of that Canadian university final as time permits, but he is not sure right now how long that will be -- Grey Cup preparations are in full swing and Saturday will be busy.
"I played on great teams in high school (including two provincial champions), but since then, I haven't really had the opportunity to play in a big game," Bagg said. "I understand the importance of this and how hard it is to get to this type of platform."
He also concedes that yes, just maybe, his career path could serve as inspiration for some other young CIS receiver hoping for a professional career.
"Anybody who's playing CIS football, if people don't think they're good enough, they shouldn't necessarily give up just because of the opinion of a few people," Bagg said. "It's cliche, but if you believe in yourself, you can accomplish your goals."
kmitchell@sp.canwest.com
© Copyright (c) Canwest News Service
© Copyright (c) Canwest News Service
CALGARY STARTS TO CHEER FOR THE RIDERS
By Ian Hamilton,
CALGARY — Ken Miller paused for a moment Saturday when asked why he thought his Saskatchewan Roughriders seem to have been adopted by Calgarians during Grey Cup week.
Was the Roughriders’ head coach getting emotional thinking about it? Was he stumped? Nope. Turns out he was just thinking up a punch line.
Was the Roughriders’ head coach getting emotional thinking about it? Was he stumped? Nope. Turns out he was just thinking up a punch line.
“We’re a likable bunch of guys,” Miller finally replied with a huge grin, prompting media members in the McMahon Stadium media room to burst out laughing.
But seriously, Ken . . .
But seriously, Ken . . .
“I think that some of our personality comes through,” he continued. “The team that we have is truly a group of men who get along together, who work for each other, and I think it’s the kind of a feeling that most people would like to have in their workplace or workforce.
“I think maybe there’s a bit of a feeling that maybe they’d like to join in that team spirit that we have.”
Calgary appears to have joined the Rider Nation in advance of Sunday’s Grey Cup game against the Montreal Alouettes.
Calgary appears to have joined the Rider Nation in advance of Sunday’s Grey Cup game against the Montreal Alouettes.
There are Roughriders signs in downtown store and hotel windows, waitresses in restaurants and bars are wearing Saskatchewan jerseys, and — whether it means anything or not — one Calgary newspaper has added a green strip with white lettering on its front page promoting its coverage of the Grey Cup.
“How can they not like us?” Roughriders linebacker Mike McCullough said. “There’s a lot of people from Saskatchewan in Calgary. They’ve kind of hidden it over the year, but now that (the Calgary Stampeders are) out, maybe they’re all starting to come out of the ranks and show their allegiance. It’s nice to see.
“We’re the Western team, so I think even the Calgarians are starting to take us on a little bit.”
“How can they not like us?” Roughriders linebacker Mike McCullough said. “There’s a lot of people from Saskatchewan in Calgary. They’ve kind of hidden it over the year, but now that (the Calgary Stampeders are) out, maybe they’re all starting to come out of the ranks and show their allegiance. It’s nice to see.
“We’re the Western team, so I think even the Calgarians are starting to take us on a little bit.”
As the Roughriders took the field for their walkthrough Saturday, workers were shovelling snow from the seats and stairways at McMahon Stadium. More than once, one of the workers bellowed “Go Riders Go!” from the upper reaches.
“I don’t know if they’re necessarily Calgary people,” McCullough said. “I think some of our stadium workers might have infiltrated the ranks here.
“No matter where we go, we seem to be the adopted team. We’re fortunate to be able to play for a province that seems to follow us everywhere we go.”
“We’re the (Dallas) Cowboys of the CFL,” added cornerback Omarr Morgan. “We’re Canada’s team, man. It’s good. Everywhere you go, you see people with green on. It’s not just in Calgary. It’s Edmonton, Toronto — everywhere, man.
“It means the world to me. We’ve got the best fans in all of our professional sports.”
But isn’t it kind of doubtful that stadium workers moving snow at a Calgary facility are Saskatchewan fans?
“They are,” Morgan said with a smirk. “They don’t know it, but they are. At heart they are. It’s great to see them. They’ve been treating us good since we’ve been here and using all their facilities. Everybody’s been great.”
“They are,” Morgan said with a smirk. “They don’t know it, but they are. At heart they are. It’s great to see them. They’ve been treating us good since we’ve been here and using all their facilities. Everybody’s been great.”
The stadium truly will be full of Roughriders fans Sunday, since Saskatchewan residents have been making their way to Calgary all week. Their arrival, plus the presence in Calgary of the converted, likely will give the Roughriders a huge home-field advantage.
“It’s amazing first of all that so many people would adopt us,” Miller said. “I thought we’d have a lot of support here, but I thought that most of that support would come from people who drove over or flew over from Saskatchewan.
“But really, the number of people who are working around the town who have said they’re going to cheer for the Riders has really been amazing.”
ihamilton@leaderpost.canwest.com
ihamilton@leaderpost.canwest.com
THIS IS VERY DIFFICULT FOR DRESSLER
By Murray McCormick
CALGARY — Weston Dressler would prefer to be playing rather than watching Sunday’s Grey Cup game.
The Saskatchewan Roughriders slotback will be on the sidelines when they line up against the Montreal Alouettes. Dressler has been sidelined since Oct. 10 with a broken right leg and dislocated ankle.
“It’s hard,’’ said Dressler. “It’s not easy being at practice and knowing that I won’t be playing in the game. At the same time, it’s fun to be here and I’m proud of the team for what it has accomplished so far. I just hope we can get one more win.’’
Dressler broke his leg during the 32-22 victory over the Toronto Argonauts. There was some talk at the time that Dressler may be back for the Grey Cup. The break may have healed but his recovery has been slowed by the dislocated ankle.
Dressler, who was the CFL’s rookie-of-the-year in 2008, still finished the season as the Riders’ leading receiver with 941 yards. He had started 14 straight games before being injured. Dressler had 62 receptions (second to slotback Andy Fantuz’s 67) and scored four touchdowns. Dressler has been impressed with the Riders’ development this season.
“From Day 1 we’ve grown so much as an offence,’’ said Dressler. “Our quarterback (Darian Durant) has become a special player for us right now. Everyone on our offence is working together really well and using each other to make them better.’’
The Riders’ receivers have stepped up in Dressler’s absence, especially Canadian Rob Bagg. He was moved from wide receiver to slotback and was called on to fill the hole left by Dressler. Bagg finished the regular season with 59 receptions for 807 yards and five touchdowns. He scored on a 16-yard touchdown pass from Durant in the Riders’ 27-17 victory over the Calgary Stampeders in the West Division final.
“It took him a week or two to get comfortable then he played well,’’ said Dressler. “I’m proud of him and he has made the most of the opportunity.’’
Dressler is expected to make a full recovery in time for the 2010 season. The fact the Riders are playing the Alouettes for the league championship has made being on the sidelines for the game slightly easier to handle.
“It’s easier because they have been winning,’’ said Dressler. “It’s hard enough having to sit out but it would be even tougher if they were losing. They have made it easier on me since they are winning.’’
“It’s easier because they have been winning,’’ said Dressler. “It’s hard enough having to sit out but it would be even tougher if they were losing. They have made it easier on me since they are winning.’’
mmccormick@leaderpost.canwest.com
© Copyright (c) The Regina Leader-Post
© Copyright (c) The Regina Leader-Post
The Saskatchewan Roughriders play the Montreal Alouettes in Calgary at Grey Cup on Sunday, November 29.
Photograph by: leaderpost.com, .
Photograph by: leaderpost.com, .
CALGARY — The Saskatchewan Roughriders are the decided favourites for the 97th Grey Cup, except in the estimation of the oddsmakers.
At last word, the Roughriders were 9 1/2-point underdogs for Sunday's Grey Cup, in which they are to oppose the formidable Montreal Alouettes at McMahon Stadium.
However, the Roughriders enjoy a decided advantage in terms of location, location, location. The CFL's championship clash is a virtual home game for the Roughriders, who have occupied the Calgary Stampeders' dressing room throughout Grey Cup week.
It is fair to suggest that the Riders will be the favourite team of a vast majority of the 46,020 people who attend Sunday's game. Amid the sea of melonheads, an Alouettes supporter will be tougher to find than a card-carrying member of the Bay City Rollers Fan Club.
Now the question is: How much will the crowd influence the outcome?
Roughriders fans hope that this year's Grey Cup is not a reprise of 1997, in which the Toronto Argonauts eviscerated Saskatchewan 47-23.
On the surface, there are parallels.
The Argonauts, like this year's Alouettes, posted a 15-3 record. The 1997 Argos were quarterbacked by Doug Flutie, who won his unprecedented sixth most-outstanding-player award that season. The current edition of the Alouettes employs signal-caller Anthony Calvillo, who won his second successive MOP award on Thursday. The moment Calvillo becomes eligible, he will join Flutie in the Canadian Football Hall of Fame.
Back in 1997, the Roughriders took a somewhat similar route to the final — winning the West final against the team from the Grey Cup's host city.
Back in 1997, the Roughriders took a somewhat similar route to the final — winning the West final against the team from the Grey Cup's host city.
Within days, Edmonton was over-run with Roughriders fans, who were predominant at Commonwealth Stadium in November of 1997. Uh, you know the rest . . .
"We'll have a strong contingent of green and white here,'' said offensive tackle Gene Makowsky, a Roughrider since 1995. "Just like '97, we're facing a team with a pretty spectacular regular-season record and a Hall of Fame quarterback. We know we're going to have to play a very good, mistake-free game against these guys. Hopefully the outcome is different than '97.''
Based on that example, a robustly pro-Saskatchewan gathering, by itself, is not going to make the difference.
And speaking of differences: There is hardly a direct comparison between the 1997 and 2009 Roughriders.
The 1997 team snuck into the playoffs with an 8-10-0 record, good for third place in the West Division, before engineering upset playoff victories over the Stampeders and Edmonton Eskimos. The 2009 Roughriders, by contrast, finished first in the West — accomplishing that feat for the first time since 1976 — before disposing of the visiting Stampeders in the division final.
And speaking of differences: There is hardly a direct comparison between the 1997 and 2009 Roughriders.
The 1997 team snuck into the playoffs with an 8-10-0 record, good for third place in the West Division, before engineering upset playoff victories over the Stampeders and Edmonton Eskimos. The 2009 Roughriders, by contrast, finished first in the West — accomplishing that feat for the first time since 1976 — before disposing of the visiting Stampeders in the division final.
Reggie Slack, who piloted the Roughriders to the 1997 championship game, turned out to be a one-month wonder. Darian Durant, who is to accept snaps for Saskatchewan on Sunday, looks very much like he will become a fixture with the Green and White.
Deep down, even the most delusional optimists had to know that the 1997 Roughriders were poised for a slaughter. This time around, the Saskatchewan players are exuding confidence, while being entirely cognizant of the gargantuan task that awaits them.
Montreal is coming off Sunday's 56-18 victory over the B.C. Lions in Sunday's East Division final. Calvillo, who completed an eye-popping 72 per cent of his passes during the regular season, scorched the listless Lions for five touchdown passes. Calvillo & Co. appear to be as close to invincible as any CFL team in recent memory.
That said, there are compelling reasons to believe that the Riders can make Sunday's game considerably more interesting than the oddsmakers project.
This is a team that continually defies the skeptics, such as those who dared to predict that Saskatchewan would finish last. The Roughriders are quarterbacked by someone who has continually been told that he is too short, and that his throwing arm is too weak. And Durant has been hearing that since he was in high school — around the time that Saskatchewan made an obligatory Grey Cup appearance against Toronto.
Durant and the Roughriders embrace their toughest challenge to date. There is little margin for error, if any, if the Roughriders are to upend the machine-like Alouettes.
Durant and the Roughriders embrace their toughest challenge to date. There is little margin for error, if any, if the Roughriders are to upend the machine-like Alouettes.
But remember this: People have been betting against the Roughriders, and their quarterback, for quite some time.
And maybe, just maybe, they have one more surprise in store.
Regina Leader-Post
ROB VANSTONE'S BLOG
By Rob Vanstone Fri, Nov 27 2009 COMMENTS(0) Rider Rumblings
• I am sitting in my 11th-floor room at the Hyatt Regency. I can hear a siren and people screaming. Sounds like the Grey Cup party has broken out.
• I did it! I managed to go an entire day without interviewing Darian Durant. He is quoted in Saturday's column, but that quote was culled from an interview I did with him on Thursday. It's our secret, OK?
• Stevie Baggs is hilarious. From a purely selfish standpoint, I hope he re-signs with the Roughriders (he is to become a free agent in mid-February) and plays here for 10 more years. There aren't enough instant-copy players in the CFL. Baggs is one of them. So is Durant. Other go-to guys on the Roughriders: Mike McCullough, Lance Frazier, Rey Williams, Wes Cates, Marc Parenteau, Gene Makowsky, Marcus Adams, Eddie Davis and Andy Fantuz.
• I wouldn't have included Fantuz's name a few months ago. I'm not sure what happened, but he has suddenly become elaborative and analytical in conversation with reporters. Perhaps that is what happens when you have spent four years in the league and are more comfortable. He has become a great quote and is one of the nicest guys on the team. (He wasn't unfriendly before. He just didn't have as much to say.)
• CFL commissioner Mark Cohon needn't have bothered to hold a media conference on Friday. Talk about a non-event! For more than a half-hour, he offered little in the way of illumination — especially on the issue of possibly reducing the minimum number of Canadian starters from seven to four. Why would the league have any interest in doing something so nonsensical? At a time when the league is hugely popular, there is nothing to be gained by needlessly inflaming people. And it is the CANADIAN Football League, remember?
• Alas, the Grey Cup has dispensed with the media touch football game, which prevents our man Ian Hamilton from being named an MVP for the second time in a week. Last Sunday, Ian earned most-valuable-player honours while representing the Paperboyz in the Old Fat Guy Touch Football League. Last Saturday, one day after turning 47, Ian was named the MVP while helping the Paperboyz win the championship game. (It's funny how much better the team got as soon as I dislocated my thumb.) Ian is also a former MVP of the Grey Cup media game.
• I was the media-game MVP in 1997, for all it's worth. Three touchdown catches! Nobody remembers it, but I do. So there. Such are the joys of blogging. Onwards . . .
• In Saturday's paper, I am predicting a 31-28 Roughriders victory in the Grey Cup. Will that be the kiss of death? Keep in mind that I also picked the Roughriders to beat Calgary in the West final. As for my other predictions this year, uh, don't ask.
• Why am I sitting in my hotel room when all the Grey Cup partying is breaking out? The answer: My wife is flying in from Regina for the weekend. She just texted me, informing me that she is waiting for her luggage. I am glad that she will be able to experience a Grey Cup festival, because it's a gas — much more exciting than being married to me. She also bought a ticket online for $280. I'll be in the press box, texting her about how much warmer it is indoors.
• I will have to introduce her to the mushroom soup, as blogged about earlier. Later
• I am sitting in my 11th-floor room at the Hyatt Regency. I can hear a siren and people screaming. Sounds like the Grey Cup party has broken out.
• I did it! I managed to go an entire day without interviewing Darian Durant. He is quoted in Saturday's column, but that quote was culled from an interview I did with him on Thursday. It's our secret, OK?
• Stevie Baggs is hilarious. From a purely selfish standpoint, I hope he re-signs with the Roughriders (he is to become a free agent in mid-February) and plays here for 10 more years. There aren't enough instant-copy players in the CFL. Baggs is one of them. So is Durant. Other go-to guys on the Roughriders: Mike McCullough, Lance Frazier, Rey Williams, Wes Cates, Marc Parenteau, Gene Makowsky, Marcus Adams, Eddie Davis and Andy Fantuz.
• I wouldn't have included Fantuz's name a few months ago. I'm not sure what happened, but he has suddenly become elaborative and analytical in conversation with reporters. Perhaps that is what happens when you have spent four years in the league and are more comfortable. He has become a great quote and is one of the nicest guys on the team. (He wasn't unfriendly before. He just didn't have as much to say.)
• CFL commissioner Mark Cohon needn't have bothered to hold a media conference on Friday. Talk about a non-event! For more than a half-hour, he offered little in the way of illumination — especially on the issue of possibly reducing the minimum number of Canadian starters from seven to four. Why would the league have any interest in doing something so nonsensical? At a time when the league is hugely popular, there is nothing to be gained by needlessly inflaming people. And it is the CANADIAN Football League, remember?
• Alas, the Grey Cup has dispensed with the media touch football game, which prevents our man Ian Hamilton from being named an MVP for the second time in a week. Last Sunday, Ian earned most-valuable-player honours while representing the Paperboyz in the Old Fat Guy Touch Football League. Last Saturday, one day after turning 47, Ian was named the MVP while helping the Paperboyz win the championship game. (It's funny how much better the team got as soon as I dislocated my thumb.) Ian is also a former MVP of the Grey Cup media game.
• I was the media-game MVP in 1997, for all it's worth. Three touchdown catches! Nobody remembers it, but I do. So there. Such are the joys of blogging. Onwards . . .
• In Saturday's paper, I am predicting a 31-28 Roughriders victory in the Grey Cup. Will that be the kiss of death? Keep in mind that I also picked the Roughriders to beat Calgary in the West final. As for my other predictions this year, uh, don't ask.
• Why am I sitting in my hotel room when all the Grey Cup partying is breaking out? The answer: My wife is flying in from Regina for the weekend. She just texted me, informing me that she is waiting for her luggage. I am glad that she will be able to experience a Grey Cup festival, because it's a gas — much more exciting than being married to me. She also bought a ticket online for $280. I'll be in the press box, texting her about how much warmer it is indoors.
• I will have to introduce her to the mushroom soup, as blogged about earlier. Later
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