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Season is over Rider fans, why not Barbeque

Aug 3, 2016 | 9:56 AM

It seems to be a consensus that following the embarrassing show that was the Riders in Montreal, the 2016 season is effectively over and we will be watching auditions for the remaining 13 games for roster spots on the 2017 team.

Of course now the Riders season is over and they are getting calls from the CFL front office regarding not maintaining their ratio in the BC game, the question has to be asked if Chris Jones was ready to take on the duties of a general manager.

But I digress…

It’d be easy for Jones to cling to the belief his system will work, it will only take time, but bottom line is that perhaps Jones felt the urge to make a splash as a decisive leader like his mentor Don Matthews, who I interviewed once in Prince Albert and found him to be a pretentious twit. Matthews liked to lay it all on the line with a blitzing defense, but when he was in Saskatchewan, he would also take gambles, some of which were questionable.

The real question is whether Chris Jones is smart enough to learn from all of this. The expectations in Saskatchewan were of a playoff team considering Jones’ resume. However, he has never been in the position of assembling a team,so  in hindsight perhaps our expectations, because I will be honest, I thought third place and a 9-9 record were very doable, were overstated.

In purging about 70 per cent of the 2015 Saskatchewan Roughriders, Jones has brought in favorite players who have underperformed, and created a team which lacks continuity and cohesion. When you have players who have not been introduced to each other and ask them to play together, you are asking a lot. It’s not like throwing a bunch of musicians together for a jam session. What we are seeing is a bunch of noise, especially on the defensive side of the ball as the defenders yell “Oh S345” as they are beat deep on another pass, while whatever poses for a pass rush comes up lame.

So I have made my peace with the fact the last season at Taylor Field is more a comedy of errors than a grand emotional experience.

I suffered through 11 years of no playoffs so my top picks for games at Taylor Field are limited and very specific.

Unless somebody I know wants to go, I have no desire to sit through the latest installment of As the World Turns.

That doesn’t mean I don’t enjoy my football. And being utterly humiliated in picking teams will not stop me from providing you, the reader, with easy laughs as the CFL weekend starts tonight.

Hamilton at Winnipeg will be an interesting game, considering Winnipeg beat Deadmonton and Hamilton has been rolling around in whatever bog passes for a health resort in “The Hammer” as Rod Black likes to call it after coming back from 25 points down to the Schmoes.

 So who can take advantage of their Deadmanwalking gifts?

I’m not convinced that Jeremiah Masoli is even close to the real thing while Matt Nichols is waiting for his carriage to turn into a pumpkin. Add to the situation that Weston Dressler is six gamed because of a leg injury and Winnipeg was forced to bring back Clarence Denmark, who the Riders cut in training camp, and the odds of Winnipeg winning are going down by the hour. Winnipeg won the first game because of six turnovers, but I can’t see that happening again unless Hamilton has assumed the Saskatchewan Roughrider persona. Hamilton 26 Winnipeg 21.

BC goes to Montreal and if beating Chris Jones doesn’t pump the air into Jim Popp’s head, nothing else will. BC is coming off a game it should have won against Calgary and Montreal will have more than one practice, so they are probably thinking that 42 points is a doable goal.

It may be a goal because BC did suffer from a spate of injuries in their loss to Calgary. BC will be forced to bring in fresh meat to man its defensive secondary which could be easily distracted by Brandon Routley running the ball and Duron Carter catching the ball.  Except BC is not the Saskatchewan Roughriders and the Lions will not be as distracted by Montreal’s strippers because BC has perfectly good strippers of their own. BC 24 Montreal 21

Saskatchewan goes to Calgary and since the Riders are bound and determined to play an 18 game exhibition schedule, perhaps the ticket prices should be adjusted accordingly? Maybe Darian Durant and Dan Clark are back and I shrug and say so what because neither Durant nor Clark play defense nor that is the biggest problem for the Riders right now.

That means pick Bo Levi in your fantasy pool because I suspect even the Prince Albert Daily Herald touch football team would have put up impressive numbers against this Chris Jones defense. Oh, the Riders have former NFL prospect Jermicheal Selders apparently on their roster, but to quote Bill Murray, It just doesn’t matter because Selders is a running  back and doesn’t play defense and this is the Riders biggest problem.

I’m not sure about the games Chris Jones wants to play, making Calgary guess who the starting quarterback is going to be, but maybe Jones thinks it gives his team an advantage. An advantage in what is open to interpretation and distracts from the real problem with the Riders which is its defense and will again cost them against Calgary.

 Calgary wins this one 33-23 and I am suspecting those Rider points come as a result of what insurance companies call – acts of god.

Finally we have Edmonton going to Ottawa and if the shame of losing to Winnipeg is not bad enough, the Schmoes take their road show against Henry “three fingers” Burris whose age and infirmity were on display against the Toronto Mega Nots.
 Edmonton will make it close, but Ottawa is on a mission to catch first in the east, and sweeping the defending champs sends a message that Ottawa is serious. Not sure if anyone is listening, but again, anytime I can see Edmonton and Winnipeg lose in a season where the Riders are out of it is a good week. Ottawa 31-27.