I told myself to forget about it; leave what has become a nightmare season for the Saskatchewan Roughriders in the past. Hope that considerable changes are made but not let the events surrounding this club bother me. And then today happens.
In case you missed it, two things happened today which to me are maddening. First off, in a move that makes absolutely no sense what so ever, Coach Miller and Darian Durant both go on the record at practice saying that Durant will start this Sunday when the Riders host the BC Lions at Mosaic. WTF???? Are you kidding me???? Is Brick Tamland and his IQ of 41 from 'Anchorman' calling the shots these days? Why, when the season is all but over is Darian Durant going to start on a broken foot? Sure, the Riders insist that they are still not entirely out of the hunt for a play -off spot as the potential for a cross over berth exists, but lets be realistic. Is Hamilton going to lose out??? Are we going to win out??? For that to happen, that being us winning out, we are going to have to hope a team loses points as we are on track to record an earth shattering -1 point this weekend. Yeah, I know, stupid point but come on, is this team going to win A game the rest of the season? Let alone, EVERY game.
Back to Durant...uh Hello??? What does this prove? Nothing. What it tells me is that the Riders either think Cole Berquist is that bad that he does not even garner a shot given where the Riders are...OR the conspiracy theory says that they are horrified he will come in, move the ball, look decent and spark a QB controversy. Take it for what it's worth, but what is the worst thing that could happen...Berquist starts and what, throws three INT in the first half? Been there. Or maybe he could do something mind blowing and lead this team into the end zone which the Riders have avoided like a land mine since mid September.
Or hey, maybe it could go like this...Durant plays, his foot injury is exacerbated unnecessarily and we are forced into a situation where maybe he isn't available next year. That would be just great, wouldn't it Ken???? Ken Miller has lost his magic as a coach and based on this decision, one could say he has lost a whole lot more than that.
In other Rider news, the Riders dealt Hugh Charles today. Charles was sent to Edmonton for a conditional pick in 2014. I guess Ken Miller and Brendan Taman failed to notice that Charles had a three score performance in July against Calgary. I guess they didn't notice that he has the speed to get outside and make tacklers miss, unlike Wes Cates who if he isn't running the ball up the gut is useless. Wait a minute, Cates really isn't that good running the ball up the middle either. Hugh Charles was never given a fair shake in Riderville, and that is a shame because in my opinion he is a quality football player with a ton of big play potential. Mark my words, he will haunt us as an Eskimo...maybe not this year, maybe not next year but this will happen.
All in all, just two more cherries to top off this season in Riderville which has been a complete and utter disaster, failure, feces show....etc highlighted by awful decisions and a completely unfounded sense of optimism and hope. What is there possible left for us to hope for??? At this point...a touchdown would be nice.
And one last totally unrelated sports note. Maybe it is because I have been overly grumpy lately but how often do you hear reporters ask coaches, managers, etc about the importance of getting off to a good start. Is this not THE dumbest question one could ask in sports. Just imagine if you will for a moment, a coach walks into a room before a game, saying boys let's go out there and play like complete shit in the beginning? I think that is how we are going to win...we are going to play like complete and utter garbage for the entire first half...we will be lethargic, lifeless, turn the ball over, just flat out suck..........I digress, this may be the message Ken Miller has been spreading the last few weeks.
Later
No need to re-post my entire comment from Pedersen's blog but Favre played injured many times and (rightly or wrongly) is generally viewed as a leader and a hero to many. Durrant is no different.
ReplyDeleteNow that the Riders have proverbially 'deuced' the bed it doesn't really matter. The interesting part is this:
- With a handful of games remaining the Riders will start planning and auditioning players for the 2012 season.
- Miller will retire from the football organization at the end of the 2011 season.
- The new head coach will want to make their own mark and will not want to keep intact the disaster from 2011. The new head coach will also bring in new coaching assistants which also changes the type of players required for their scheme.
- Thus the planning that the Riders do now for 2012 is largely all for naught since the new coaches will lead the team down a different path.
So who do you play for the next few games?