EDMONTON — The Saskatchewan Roughriders' storied history has been widely celebrated during this centennial season. But the time has arrived to respectfully spit in the face of tradition.
Given the "Grey Cup or nothing'' mentality that was articulated earlier this week by quarterback Darian Durant, the Riders cannot adhere to great expectations without one great expectoration.
The Riders, for all their charms, have been generally feckless in Grey Cups. They have lost more Grey Cups (14) than any of their CFL brethren, winning only three times — in 1966, 1989 and 2007.
If the Roughriders were to go 3-and-14 during the regular season, there would be calls for firings and a brand new, 6,000-seat stadium. Apply that nose-plugger of a record to the championship game and, well, the numbers tell the grim tale.
The 0.824 losing percentage, as ugly as it is, does not reveal the extent of the Roughriders' Grey Cup miseries. Saskatchewan also has a penchant for losing Grey Cups in excruciating, even unprecedented, fashion.
The old Regina Roughriders set an ignominious record in 1923 by surrendering the most points in a Grey Cup, losing 54-0 to Queen's University. (Queen's, by the way, has won as many Grey Cups as Saskatchewan, despite not having competed for Earl Grey's grail since 1924.)
The old Regina Roughriders set an ignominious record in 1923 by surrendering the most points in a Grey Cup, losing 54-0 to Queen's University. (Queen's, by the way, has won as many Grey Cups as Saskatchewan, despite not having competed for Earl Grey's grail since 1924.)
Saskatchewan lost in the final minute of the 1972 and 1976 Grey Cups, with Tony Gabriel figuring prominently on both occasions. Three catches by Gabriel, then of the Hamilton Tiger-Cats, set up Ian Sunter's game-winning field goal in 1972. Four years later, Gabriel's late touchdown catch allowed the Ottawa Rough Riders to record an upset win.
The latter game endured as the Roughriders' most heartbreaking Grey Cup defeat until Nov. 29, 2009, when the Montreal Alouettes won 28-27 on a last-play, 33-yard field goal by Damon Duval. Moments earlier, Duval had missed from 43 yards away — inciting a momentary victory celebration by the Riders — before the West Division champs were called for too many men on the field.
The Roughriders and Winnipeg Blue Bombers were tied for the most Grey Cup defeats, until the 13th man produced the 14th loss.
Kudos to the Roughriders for shaking off that devastating result and returning to the Grey Cup. Sunday's rematch with Montreal is to be played at Commonwealth Stadium, where the Roughriders hope to make an emphatic statement.
Kudos to the Roughriders for shaking off that devastating result and returning to the Grey Cup. Sunday's rematch with Montreal is to be played at Commonwealth Stadium, where the Roughriders hope to make an emphatic statement.
The days of the lovable losers are gone, or they should be. The once-impoverished Riders are flush with cash. They are the only CFL team to have produced a double-digit victory total in each of the past four seasons, but a genuine breakthrough will not occur until the Riders habitually win Grey Cups.
This is part of the culture change that Durant has consistently advocated since blossoming into an elite starter in 2009.
"It's about making a difference, and it starts with the quarterback who has been here for more than three years, winning the Grey Cup, winning the West,'' the 28-year-old passer said. "All those things that come along with changing the culture, I'm all about that.
"The locker I sit in back in Saskatchewan, Gordie (Gilroy, equipment manager) asked me if I wanted to sit there because every quarterback who has sat in that locker hasn't been with the team for more than three years. I said, 'Give me the locker. I'll take it,' because I'm all about changing this culture and changing the way fans look at this team and the way people look at it.''
Durant has already helped to engineer a notable sea change, and applaudably so. But he knows, as well as anyone, that the battle is far from won.
Consider the fact that the 2010 Grey Cup is being played in Edmonton — the erstwhile City of Champions. The Edmonton Eskimos have won 13 Grey Cups since capturing their first title in 1954. Beginning in 1978, the Eskimos won five consecutive titles — two more than Saskatchewan has captured, period.
For Durant and the Roughriders, the reminders are everywhere. They have taken over the Eskimos' opulent dressing room during Grey Cup week.
"As soon as you walk into that locker room, you see all the Grey Cups that they have on the wall,'' Durant noted. "That's something that I want to bring to Saskatchewan. I hate the fact that there's only been three in 100 years. Let's make it four in 100 years.''
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