At Least it Wasn't the Stamps..

While I found it hard to really get excited about the 100th Grey Cup yesterday (it tends to be that way without the Riders) I found myself pleased to have put the hammer and tools down to watch the game. I would also like to thank Mrs. Morin for allowing me the opportunity to put the renovations in the downstairs office on hold so I could watch the game and have a cold one. Anyways, back to the game. My Rider Pride is evident, and to me the greatest rival we have, or at least the team I hate losing to the most is Calgary. Watching them get beaten everywhere on the Rogers Centre turf yesterday really made an otherwise disappointing season bearable.

The Argos kicked them around from beginning to end and I loved it. Having watched them for years, their cockiness and overly inflated egos have gotten to be something that riles me up like few others can. Their pre - game introduction was enough to turn the non - biased fan into an Argo lover almost instantly. Those guys are ultra annoying when they simply catch an eight yard out, imagine had they actually won? For that I personally thank the entire Toronto Argonaut organization with an empahsis on Chad Kackert, Ricky Ray and D Coordinator Chris Jones.

The only bad thing about Toronto winning was Kevin Glenn not winning. The guy has been a warrior for years and a player I truly respect. He got his chance finally and really he and his team weren't sharp at all. I would like to see Glenn get a ring someday; I just hope he doesn't do it in a Stamps uniform.

So the last two Grey Cups have been won by the host team...here's hoping for the trifecta in 2013.

I will admit I have my moments of weakness but who saw Morehead State's men's basketball coach go off last week on one of his players. From what I saw, the kid fouled out and was a little slow coming off the court. The coach then lost it, berating the kid for what seemed like an eternity. And just when you think he was done, he went back and gave him some more. The kid looked close to tears and I can't help but think it was all he could do NOT to drive him into next week.

The NHL continues to....well they still exist and that is about it. The news of the weekend was not the discussions or lack of but rather the absolute idiocy of Chicago Blackhawks forward Dave Bolland, who re - tweeted a tweet that openly supported the idea of Gary Bettman being killed. Are you honestly that stupid Dave Bolland? You know this twitter thing is pretty big right? You know somebody might read it and not find it funny, appropriate or necessary, right?

Clearly sometimes pro athletes are such morons. Last week Nik Lewis tweets about OJ glove's and such and now this. I am so sick of the "I never meant to....really regret it..." Come on, yes you are human but part of being human means you have a brain. THINK about it; you guys have thousands of followers; these poor judgements are going to resurface.

If you want to watch a compelling show about life in the WHL, check out Sportsnet's show "On the Edge". The program looks at the Saskatoon Blades season as they prepare to host the Memorial Cup in May. The first episdoe ended with Head Coach and GM Lorne Molleken having to release a twenty year old simply due to numbers. The player, Molleken and three others were in the room at the time and not a dry eye in the room as the young fella walked out. My heart broke for the kid but also for Molleken having to be the one to break the news to him. How do you tell a kid in his final year, we can't make room for you...tough job; great show.

Watching it reminds me of a story my buddy told me about playing Jr. Hockey. Long story short as his team is getting berated for playing a little too softly, my friend, head down in his hands takes the garbage can to the head after it was kicked by a steaming mad coach. Apparently his line was all of a sudden not so bad. Junior Hockey is full of great characters and even better stories. If you ever get a chance to talk to someone who has that experience; soak it up as there are hours of great tales to be told.

My final thoughts today...please, please please have a better half - time show next year. We will be cold already; you may as well not compound that problem with a pre - pubescent high pitched pretty boy OR if you do, make sure he wears the same muscle shirt. A horrible half - time show in Toronto but a good ending. Wonder if Eric Tillman tuned in to check it out? You think he would like to take back that trade which essentially was a Grey Cup champion for the third string QB on a team that BARELY squeaked into the dance? But he will be a GM again, right?

Canora Flames in action tonight at 9:00...check it out. Brick and I will be mucking it up on the fourth line.


Later.....

Back at er'

After a very long and drawn out absence I am back. Thanks to my loyal followers who reminded me that they did read this from time to time.

Let's start with MLB. The season is a meagre five months away but I can't recall being this excited about baseball in a long time. We're Canadian and we are supposed to cheer for Canadian teams but ever since Joe Carter took Mitch Williams deep in 1993 to claim the Jays second consecutive World Series crown, it has been tough to be a fan of this club.

The deal they made with the Marlins on Tuesday, aside from including many more players, reminds me a lot of the Fernandez/McGriff to the Padres for Alomar/Carter deal. That deal put the Jays over that proverbial hump. While they play in the toughest division in baseball, and possibly all of sports for that matter, they have made a statement. They are serious about bringing a competitive team to Toronto and are willing to spend money if necessary.

They weren't going to fill any holes in their rotation via free agency. The only pitchers of any value, Annibal Sanchez (too much $$$ for the return) and Zach Grienke (openly stating he did not want to be a Blue Jay) meant a trade was their best option. It is early but if the injury bug takes off, unlike last year, this rotation could be as good as they come in the bigs. Johnson, Buehrle, Morrow and Romero are a great front four. Granted, Romero needs to return to form as does Johnson. As of Sunday, J.A. Happ was looking to be the third man in the rotation. As of today he will be in a dog fight just to grab a spot.

Never mind they brought in Jose Reyes. He along with Bonifacio and Gose will steal bases at a considerable rate. That should set up nicely for the like of Bautista, Encarnacion and Lawrie.

Look I get it is November and a lot can happen, but the one thing the Jays have built through this, and other transactions is a culture of never resorting to mediocrity.

The other team involved in that trade have in the past few days, come across, at least in my opinion as fraudulent and shameful. The City of Miami agrees ot build this very elaborate and fancy new stadium with a bill of more than $600M and in return they were very active in trying to improve their club and build a potential winner to play in front of the fans of Miami who essentially flipped the bill for this thing. One year and a few bumps in the road later, everyone is gone and the team that will take the field in April will be a who's who of minor league players with next to no hope of being a winner anytime soon. It's a shame really.

The NHL; what a bunch of greedy, selfish, self absorbed individuals. And I am speaking about the players. I have never in my life tried to come across as pro - management but when it comes to this lockout, the players and their fearless leader, Donald Fehr sour me more and more daily. Find me another business where the employees are paid as much or more than the owners. There argument that there wouldn't be a game without them is bogus. There are thousands of players around the world who would love to play, and would play for a percentage of what these guys feel they need to be paid.

At the end of the day, Donald Fehr is going to do what he did to baseball, nearly cripple the sport and leave them (the players) with an uphill battle in terms of winning back the hearts, and more importantly dollars of the fans who keep them employed. At this point, I could do without a season. Not because I don't like hockey but because I don't want to see these greedy bastards get what they believe they are entitled to.

One thing that does not help the cause is the fact the TSN, Sportsnet and other major sports networks continue to talk about the lockout daily. Shut up already! Don't give them an audience and soon enough nobody will care anymore. Prove to these guys that the world does NOT revolve around them; it might change their tune pretty quickly.

And now on to my beloved Riders. I love the Riders, I live the Riders and watching Romby Bryant sprint down the field on Sunday just about broke my heart; seriously. A big hug from Mrs. Morin was needed to console me.

Before I provide you my thoughts on the team, let me get something off my chest. The number of part time fans who stab this team in the back during the bad times but quickly jump back on the wagon during the good makes me sick. A true fan sticks with them....good and bad, win or lose.

One of my BIGGEST frustrations all year long was the tendency to blame every loss, or bump in the road on Darian Durant. Darian Durant is a marquee QB; Darian Durant WILL win us a Grey Cup (Hopefully next year at the madhouse that is Mosaic) and the effor the put in on Sunday proved that. Get off his back; he is the third best QB we have ever had, and in time he could supplant Kent Austin as number two behind only the Little General.

Offensively, we have many of the tools needed to be a high powered juggernaut similar to a couple of years ago. Kory Sheets is as good as a back as I have seen dawn the Green and White; fast, elusive and determined. Weston Dressler is a treat to watch week in, week out. Greg Carr gave the Rider Nation a lot of optimisim with his performance on Sunday in Calgary. Chris Getzlaf had an off year and will need to rebound. An effective Getzlaf and hopefully a healthy Rob Bagg can only improve things for next year. A guy I noticed made plays when given the chance was Brooks Foster; given the chance I think this guy can contribute. He didn't make many catches but those he did were more than 50% of the time for first down yeardage.

Jock Sanders was a STUD. A healthy Sanders provides us with a triple threat similar to Chad Owens in Toronto. He makes us much better and more dynamic on the offensive side of the ball.


Odell Willis is a bum; plain and simple. The man can dance as he demonstrated every home game. That being said he appeared allergic to the QB in the second half of the season and he can't take criticism. My friends and twitter followers can confirm that. In my opinion don't bring this headache back. We can get six sacks and less annoying antics out of several.

Defensively I really liked the way they adjusted as the year went on. They realized upgrades were needed and the likes of Joe Lobendahn and Diamond Ferri truly helped. I can only hope these guys are back in the fold come June. Macho Harris, the rookie DB out of Virginia Tech was a guy I really liked on Sunday. He and Maze on the corners would be an upgrade over this year. Tristan Jackson is a more than capable fill in on the corner as well, and his value as a returner makes him a guy we should bring back.

As for who can go? James Patrick was a BUST; zero picks and some of the worst tackling I have seen. I would also not be heart broken to see Eddie Russ and Chris Mackenzie be looking for employment next year. These guys were very inconsistent and when they were bad, they were awful whether it be blown coverage, horrific tackling or dumb penalites I felt they did more to hurt than help.

The Rider Nation loves Richie Hall. Sometimes you have to let good things go. He is a hell of a nice guy but his defense cost us games this year on too many occasions. All allegiances aside, he is not the best fit as our D Coordinator and I can only hope that Chamblin can bring the right guy in. While our D was ranked second when we stunk we stunk. When we needed a play, we couldn't get it. It seemed like 2nd and long was a sure thing for the opposition. Just my thoughts.

That's it. Enjoy.

I Apologize.

I realized that it had been a while since I updated this blog; week two of the CFL season to be exact. I never gave it much thought until the last few days when two people questioned why I hadn't updated it in a while. To be honest I thought there was no interest in it anymore but since there is I am excited to resurrect the open forum for my views, opinions and insights.

Look for an update by the end of the week. Topics will include the Riders; a reflection of 2012 and a look ahead to 2013, the MASSIVE trade the Jays and Marlins swung yesterday, some NFL thoughts and a rant on why I have had about enough of the NHL.

Later,

HM