A tough loss but a great game.  As a football fan, I don’t see any way that you couldn’t like that one.  Sure, a Rider win would have been better, but an entertaining game is worth plenty to this fan.

Some observations…

• I debated whether or not to bring my coat.  End result: I left it in the car.  I was actually glad when the rain began as I discovered that a plastic rain cape offers a surprising amount of warmth.
• Besides Ricky Ray, the Eskimo I’d most like to see as a Roughrider is Fred Stamps.  That guy can play!
• People in our section were griping about not getting enough pressure on Ray.  My question: How do you expect that to happen when he hardly held the ball for three seconds all day?  There’s nothing wrong with giving a great offense some credit.
• And the Esks’ offense was great for most of the day.  We had no control whatsoever of them until the third quarter.
• Durant played well–no real mistakes that I recall.
• Getzlaff is a keeper.  If we end up losing Fantuz in free agency or in a trade, this kid will step up into that place nicely.  If Andy stays, I’m not sure Clermont has a long future here.
• Rob Bagg makes a spectacular catch nearly every game.
• Stevie Baggs has two sacks now this season using his spin move.  It can’t work all the time, but when it does, it is beautiful.
• Going deep to Bagg on a 2nd and 1 was gutsy and brought a roar to the stadium.
• Faking that punt was gutsy too.  Boreham is the toughest punter in the league–not even close.
• The Esks faking a punt on a following drive–also gutsy.  I did NOT see that coming.
• We had two straight two-and-outs in the 4th.  A couple first downs there, and we likely win.  Edmonton made key stops to get the ball back for that winning score.

As I said, all in all a good game.  Most of us would be happy to split these two games with Edmonton.  I’d expected us to win at home and lose next week.  Guess we’ll have to go steal one on the road now.

That’s it.  Live from the Queen City, this is me signing off.

The Labour Day Classic–I was there with 3o 000+ other fans.  I’m certain I’d had less to drink than 29 000 or more of them.

I’m not sure that I’d call this game a classic, but I enjoy every single game at Taylor Field so I’m easy to please.  Some highlights from the game…

• Darian Durant looked good.  On our two scoring drives in the first quarter, he looked downright automatic.
• Robb Bagg’s one-handed catch on the opening drove–OH MY!  One of the catches of the year, I’m sure.
• Fred Reid, Mr. I’m-going-to-run-for-300-yards, looked nicely ordinary.
• Mr. Bishop looked good too–three interceptions and a few timely sacks by Chick and Baggs–Mike looked just like the last time he was in Regina.
• Armstead didn’t look out of place, as I feared he might.  Even had one return that made fans hopeful that our return game might climb out of the basement yet.
• Dressler didn’t get to any of the big bombs from Durant, but it wasn’t for lack of hustle.  If we’d connected on a couple of those, the game might have been over before it began.
• That stop on the 1-yard-line to end the first half was HUGE–maybe a bit of a Bomber back-breaker.

I’m desperately hoping (and expecting) a win in the Banjo Bowl tomorrow.  A sweep of the Bombers is hardly on the same level as Calgary’s recent sweeping of the Esks, but that’s not the point.  The point is winning the games you need to win, and we’ve got one of those tomorrow.

Go get ’em Green.  Time to hand the Bombers one more whooping!

For any who missed the highlights, have at ’em…

The bye week’s come and gone, and Labour Day is nearly here.  Before we arrive at the madness that is the Labour Day Classic, it’s time to mark our last game, a “good” loss in Montreal.  I say “good” because I was just thrilled to see us battle with the Als.  A few things that stood out to me as I watched…

• Durant is coming along–it was great to see him hit a number of long passes.  He held his own against Calvillo, to be sure.
• Three sacks on Calvillo is no easy task–the D came to play.
• Getting stuffed three times from the one–that was hard to watch.  If I ever see another run up the middle, it’ll be too soon for me.
• Dressler is the man!  Seriously, that guy needs to be a Rider for his entire career.  He was born to play football here.
• Our run defense has stepped up the last two games, and that is a big deal.  Hopefully, we make Fred Reid look less-than-average this week.
• Our boys showed some character.  After Taylor’s TD return, we responded quickly with a score of our own.  And right up until the end, we stood toe to toe and traded shots with the Als.  It was a treat to watch that kind of spirit and fight–I hope we see it every game.

In case you missed the action, I’ll close with some highlights from Montreal…

This game happened right before I headed into the bush for a week at camp, so that’s my man-I’m-late-this-time excuse.  Here’s what I remember from this game…

• Martell Mallett is a beast of a running back.  If his bruising style doesn’t shorten his career, he could be a heck of a player.
• Throwing Jyles in for the 4th–I wasn’t a fan of that move.  It wasn’t Durant that was causing us grief, in my opinon.
• Blowing that big lead was tough to take.
• Barron Miles blocking that late convert was an athletic display, for sure.

All in all, being 3-3 after 6 games is about where I thought we’d be.  With the West as tight as it is, this was a tough one to lose.  But we’re still in the hunt for sure.

And on the season goes…

Beauty of a game!

I’ve got to be honest–I wasn’t expecting a win.  In fact, my hopes were simply for a strong showing and an elimination of some past mistakes.  I wanted to see Durant look steady and to see the team look solid overall.  Even if we’d lost at the end, I would still agree with the analysts that it was the most exciting game of the CFL season thus far.  Add to that a win in Calgary over Henry and his homies–you bet I’m in for that!

A few observations…

• Durant looked steady and then some.  I still wonder if he’s got what it takes to be an elite CFL QB, but he’s certainly got some skills.  Keep building on it, DD.
• Andy Fantuz hurt?  That’s all right–rest up, Andy.  Mr. Getzlaff filled in just fine.  Two TDs and 100+ yards–good enough for CFL Canadian player of the week.
• Cates ran for over 100 yards and broke out for a couple long ones.  When the run game is clicking, the passing game opens up–strange coincidence there?  Not hardly.
• Gene Makowsky’s return helped the O-line and the offense in general, I’ve no doubt.
• Dressler’s return on the late missed field goal was big.  Dressler overall continues to be a fantastic player for us–a very easy guy to cheer for as well.
• Clermont had a couple key catches, especially a first down completion on 2nd & 20–huge!
• Our D-line is still looking too easy to run against.  Scott Schultz’s retirement likely won’t help that.  What say ye, Coach Etcheverry?

Overall, I’m pretty happy to be 3-2 after 5 games.  A win in BC would be sweet to see, but it’s certainly not a given.  The Lions might be 1-4, but you’ve always got to take them seriously.  The moment you don’t, you could get lit up.  Add to that their 3 new signings this past week, and they are a team that should be playing with a bit of an edge.  We’ll have to be at our best.