By Greg Urbanoski

Riderville

Riders Play Trick on Fans Hoping for Grey Cup Treat

Oct 28, 2022 | 10:39 AM

“The views and opinions expressed in this article are those of the author and do not necessarily reflect the position of Pattison Media and this site.”

In the end you must marvel at the leadership, or lack thereof, that had the Saskatchewan Roughriders squander an opportunity to play another Grey Cup at home.

In 1995 the first time Saskatchewan hosted a Grey Cup, the Riders finished out of the playoffs, but we had American CFL teams, so the excuses were already to run. In 2003 the Riders made the playoffs but fell short of playing at home.

In 2013 the Riders went all in and got a team that was capable of beating Hamilton at home. The team fell apart due to injuries to quarterback Darian Durant the next two years, forcing the Riders to bring in Chris Jones in a Hail Mary coaching play. Jones broke down the team and started from nothing, but Jones Achilles heel was handling quarterbacks and the best the Riders did was the eastern final.

This year the Riders, in reaction to what Jones did, decided to stress continuity and hoping their offensive line would improve over the previous season. The Riders spent big money on players like Duke Williams who did nothing but cost the Riders a game in a game that Williams was not even dressed for.

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Cody Fajardo was a pinata for opposing defensive linemen and the lack of blocking support had given Fajardo happy feet and the inability to be patient to wait for his slow receivers to get open. Fajardo was suffering from PTSD from the rush, the lack of success and Fajardo forgot the first rule of a starting quarterback…the buck stops with him.

The Riders were looking to rely on a past formula of having a great defense hold them in the game long enough to pull off a win or two, but when the Riders finally released defensive lineman Garrett Marino, the Riders lost an inside defensive presence and opposing teams could march on them at will. Marino could well be the most important player for the Riders because once he was gone, the Riders did not win again.

So now opposing fans are looking to scoop up Grey Cup tickets at cover prices, even less, and CFL fans in Saskatchewan are wondering if the half time show at the Grey Cup will be a dog demonstration, which would be apropos considering the Riders played like dogs this year.

Mason Fine started for the Riders against Calgary and while he looked OK, there was nothing to indicate any substantial difference between him and Fajardo. The Riders blew this badly as they played a cute game of giving Fajardo a vet’s day off before announcing Fine would be starting.

It did not matter to Calgary as they ran the ball down the Riders throat and there was nothing the Riders could do to stop it. The only bit of life came from Mario Alford who ran for a punt return touchdown in the last minute to give the fans a feeling that the team might respond, but it was too little too late.

The Riders wrap up their season against Calgary in Calgary and do not expect the Riders to produce a win. This is the start of the 2023 season and while the fans are wondering what changes may be in the offing, I suspect other than Fajardo taking a walk-in free agency and Jason Maas signing as head coach in Montreal, the Riders will not make any major changes.

Rider GM Jeremy O’Day and Head |Coach Craig Dickenson have another year to run on their contracts and the Riders who say they have spent to the limit in football operations simply do not have the ability to fire say Dickinson and bring in another coach while they are still paying off Dickinson on the last year of his contract.

This would be consistent with the Riders now stressing continuity rather than swinging for the fences, which a team hosting the Grey Cup might be expected to do. When Maas goes, expect to see Paul La Police in as offensive coordinator, he will not get another shot at a head coaching position. If there are changes, it will be at the offensive line coaching position where Stephen Sorrells has not improved the line in two years.

The Riders may have no other choice but to go for the rebuild and if they do that, do not expect to see too many current players hang around. Players want to win, and the Riders have regressed from consecutive appearances in the western final.

This weekend I plan to take in the Regina Thunder – Saskatoon Hilltops Prairie Junior final and maybe university action. The U of |S Huskies with Mason Nyhuis at QB could be contenders for a Vanier Cup and the Riders may want to consider what BC did when they look at their rebuild.

BC had the best quarterback in the CFL in Mike Reilly, but he had no offensive line and was beaten out of the league and decided to go be a firefighter. BC then went with two Canadian quarterbacks with little experience and Nathan Rourke had one of the best years ever for a Canadian quarterback.

More importantly the Lions saved money on the QB position and surrounded Rourke with talented players at receiver, running back and offensive line. BC faces Winnipeg in a preview of the western final and Rourke, who is coming off an injury, will play the first half.

If Rourke looks like he has not lost a step, then BC has a real chance of beating Calgary at home and going into Winnipeg and giving them a battle. The Riders might be relying on drafting Nyhuis, bringing in a more experienced starter so Nyhuis can learn from him, and if Nyhuis can handle a pro-offense, the Riders may not be that long out of the playoffs.

The question is if the Riders have ticked off enough people that care about the team. The Riders went big with the new stadium, jacking up concession prices and property owners in Regina must laugh when out of towners talk about having a roofed stadium. When people do not have to pay for something, they are often full of suggestions that never involve their money.

The game played in the CFL of tickets sold versus actual people in the stands will continue through the playoffs into the Grey Cup. Technically all the seats for the Grey Cup have been sold, but the resales are going strong and with the season ending on a sour note, the Rider fans are not as eager to drink the Kool-Aid as in previous years.

If the Riders make minimum changes, season ticket sales will drop again and expect to see a half empty stadium at best next year. The concession prices mean people are eating and drinking before the game so the plan to have fans pay the freight may blow up in the Riders faces if there are no fans showing up.

If the Riders go with two rookies Canadian QBs and a back up quarterback capable of starting for stretches, then they have a shot next year. They need to bring back their linebackers, they need to recruit at defensive line, and expect to see turnover at the receiver position.

In the meantime, there is still football to be played, although all the spots have been determined. Expect to see some gamesmanship as teams look to present themselves in one way while planning to go another.

Last week Hamilton clinched a playoff spot with a 30-27 win over Ottawa. Bob Dyce, the interim Ottawa coach, has his team playing well for him, but Ottawa is just too inconsistent and that cost them against Hamilton. Nick Arbuckle is showing Ottawa fans that best case scenario, he is a game manager like Matt Nichols, the former Bomber and Redblack QB.

Whoever Ottawa hires as head coach, they will need two years to get the team back into contention. If they can play with the same intensity they showed under Dyce, it might take just a year to see results, but Ottawa is not as bad as one might think.

Ottawa hosts Hamilton to wrap up the season and with Hamilton clinching, it gives them an opportunity to rotate people in and out of the roster and save their starters for the eastern semi final. This is nothing more than a glorified exhibition for Hamilton and the start of the preseason for Ottawa. Ottawa should win this one 27-17.

BC clinched second with a 31-14 win over the Edmonton Elk who were simply outmanned against BC. Jones has used this season as one long training camp to identify people who can play next year. Edmonton is also looking at over 1,100 days since they last won at home and Edmonton needs a win at home next season in the worst way to try to bring fans back.

The big news out of BC who play Winnipeg Friday night is Rourke coming back to start the first half. It will be his first action since he got injured against the Riders in August but Gino Carravata, the former BC QB and now color commentator for the radio broadcasts, said Rourke in practice is showing any signs of a limp.

Carravata noted the appearance of Rourke in the Lions offense ups the confidence of that team, even though Vernon Adams Jr. has done not bad in filling in after coming over from Montreal in a trade. If Rourke and the Lions show they can handle the cold, and play Winnipeg to say a tie in the first half, it won’t matter in the second half which will see nothing but subs coming in.

That will give BC confidence they can hang with Winnipeg in the western final. Winnipeg and Regina have a reputation for being difficult places to play in during wintry weather and if BC shows it has the character to overcome the cold, they will be competitive in the western final.

Winnipeg will be bringing players off the injured list for this game, at least for the first half, and they do not want BC to have any confidence when they come back in two weeks. Expect a playoff atmosphere in the first half and then an exhibition game in the second half but until one sees how Rourke can manage things after an injury (he should not have any problem with the cold considering he played college ball in Ohio.) you would be wiser to go with Winnipeg winning 31-27.

Toronto beat Montreal 24-23 to clinch first place in the east and the rematch this week is again nothing more than a glorified exhibition game. Toronto will give their starters a quarter of work to just keep fresh for the eastern final. For Montreal it is important to show Toronto it has the talent to come to TO, play and win. Trevor Harris though is a streaky QB so Montreal may have to resort to a running game.

A win means more to Montreal and while Toronto may not care if Montreal wins, Toronto does not want to give Montreal hope coming into the eastern final. For that reason, Toronto wins 32-31.

Finally, we have the Riders go to Calgary. The long goodbye of Cody Fajardo ends here and expect the Riders to see which of their starting and supporting cast should be brought back next year. The Riders have long since checked out of this season while Calgary will try to ensure they win the rushing title and keep the Riders off the scoreboard.

The Riders have mishandled everything about this season so blowing this final game is just the only bit of consistency they have shown. Calgary will run the ball down the Riders throats, giving the BC Lions something to think about for the western final.

Calgary wins this one 31-10 and finally the Rider nightmare ends.