Cats Should Do Well – Durant Decision Ahead

The question arises: who would replace Durant? The final game against BC showed that, other than Brandon Bridge, no one did well with that offensive line and I would argue that Brett Smith did better last year as a sandlot QB.

The problem with Smith was that while he was not afraid to improvise, he probably didn’t know what the hell he was doing, therefore throwing everyone, including his offensive line, off.

The answer to that question dear reader is, I would think Chris Jones would like to get ahold of James Franklin, but he was one more year under contract in Deadmonton. He looked good in Deadmonton’s last regular season game against Toronto, but let’s be honest, everyone looked good against Toronto.

If Jones was going to pry Franklin out of Deadmonton, he would have to hand over a first round draft pick. If it was this year that would be the second overall pick since Toronto traded their first round pick to Winnipeg in the brilliantly flawed Drew Willy trade. I can and I can’t see that happening for several reasons.

It doesn’t matter who Jones has as quarterback, the offensive line as it currently stands is garbage.

In the second last game of the season, quarterback Jake Waters was bounced out with a shoulder injury because the offensive line failed to do such basic things as get in the way of opposing players.

For everyone who whines that Darian Durant has lost it because he throws at the feet of his receivers, consider he had no time and better to throw an incompletion than an interception.

The Riders picked Josiah St. John, but he seemed to be more of what Chris Jones seems to like: a science project. St. John got in a few times and had his problems. He needs to work on strength and footwork and maybe he can be a good backup next year and take the step towards starting the year after. This, of course, is the final year of his contract.

The Riders lost Brendon LaBatte and Chris Best to injuries and it was indeed good news that LaBatte is returning from an apparent concussion. Best is apparently going through rehab from his injuries, but the question has to be asked if Best is past his best before date because the amount of game time he has put in has been pretty bad.

Then there is Dan Clark and in an effort to be charitable, Clark was taken to school by athletes bigger, faster and more talented than he. I can’t argue with his heart or his work ethic, but one of the things Jones talked about was he needed to be able to coach his players better. If Clark cannot be coached better at the centre position to keep players from hitting his quarterback, then Clark should go.

So consider what would happen if Darian Durant did go to another team. In effect the Riders would be writing off next year. With all due respect to Mitchell Gale, GJ Kinne, Jake Waters and Brandon Bridge – I haven’t seen the biggest intangible that makes a quarterback succeed in any league.

Let’s go back to 2008/2009 when Marcus Crandall was once upon a time the rock on which the Riders would rebuild following the sending of Kerry Joseph to Toronto after winning a Grey Cup. Crandall got injured and Durant got a start and started to win. Eventually he got to the point where the Riders won more often with him starting than with anyone else because the team responded to him.

Ron Lancaster once said the only way to measure a quarterback was by wins. That is true of regular season and playoff and Grey Cup games. Durant missed a year and a half due to injuries, but mostly played last season and did pretty good all things considered.

The Riders have talked about having a lower base salary and perhaps more incentives. But, if you consider that according to the Riders they have the best salary cap situation in the league, then maybe the team should consider that after the 2017 season, when season ticket prices go up at the new stadium and if there is no substantial improvement in the team, then I would expect attendance to start dropping off.

There is a difference between the number of tickets sold and the people who actually show up for a game.

While the Riders lead the CFL in attendance, their actual attendance is below that and that has an impact on concessions, souvenir sales and the like and that has an impact on the bottom line.

I don’t believe the Friends of the Rider Lottery sold out and I didn’t buy a ticket this year because I was thinking, if the Riders were paying massive fines and losing salary cap space because of their management of players on and off the roster, why would I provide them with even more money to blow on a 5-13 team that played with no heart in their final game of the year?

So the Riders have to keep in mind if there is no reason for people to come to the new stadium, their ability to travel around the US holding free agent camps will be reduced and all the salary cap space in the world won’t matter for players who may never come.

The Riders are coming off 3-15 and 5-13 seasons and there is no desire to relieve the 11 years out of the playoffs that marked a sizeable chunk of my season ticket history with the club.

With the cost of utilities and property taxes and everything else, combined with no real wage increases, you have to wonder if putting down money for a team that may not necessarily care is the way to go.

So the Riders will have to start to think about where is the point beyond which they can push their fans without providing a tangible benefit in either a win/loss record or a compete level. If they let Durant go, then they have written off 2017 already and we haven’t even finished this season yet.

But I don’t think it will come to that point. The recent US election was a demonstration in how the news media amped ratings by blowing everything up larger than life. Some of it was substantial, some of it was not, and on the US election night, none of them saw what hit them with a Trump win.

The sports media are hyping stuff like Darian Durant is going off to Montreal or Winnipeg because the Riders drive interest and if you rile the Rider Nation up, they will take notice and may follow your particular outlet.

I go about this in a dollars and sense way. Jones is absolutely right in that he and his staff botched coaching this team this year. Considering the amount of injuries they had, they will probably have to review how they do off season training and if the players don’t follow the right protocols, then maybe let them go instead of paying for them to sit in the hot tub.

This was a steep learning curve for a new staff and administration. What Rider Nation hopes to see if if Jones is smart enough to learn from his mistake and quit this screwing around and get this team into the playoffs and win a few Grey Cups.

Speaking of which.

Edmonton at Hamilton in the Eastern Semi-Final has the Hamilton Tiger-Cats, patron saints of under-performing, riding a two game losing streak into the big game, and minus some key performers. Deadmonton has perhaps the whiniest coach since Kent Austin in Jason Maas, showing that the Eskimo way consists of being entitled to do their own thing and try to relive the Campbell Football League years.

Hamilton is one of the great inconsistent teams, capable of a mighty win in Deadmonton and then choking against bottom feeding teams (yeah, I know) and considering the injuries in the Hamilton receiving corps and the relative strength of the Deadmonton team, you would think that they should just throw dirt on the Cats as they come of the tunnel, or whatever they call it in Litigation Bowl.

While Deadmonton has two pretty good receivers and I have a healthy respect for John Henry White, Hamilton has been decimated by injuries, particularly on offense, and the back end of their defense leaves something to be desired, I am going to make my pick on some intangibles.

Maas, under the influence of Ed “I Can’t Get no Respect” Hervey, has been playing up the poor pitiful me, us against the world mentality, that all teams try to cultivate in some form or another. The problem in Deadmonton, as it probably is wherever it is tried, is that this approach only works with the fans and even then, there is a segment that just wishes their team would no longer embarrass them. I should know.

While Maas has attempted to bill himself as a competitive type, and Mike Reilly takes his cues from Maas, there comes a point of diminishing returns with the fiery approach.

Being feisty is fine for guys who are on the field, and Maas is still thinking he could vindicate his career of unfulfilled potential by acting like a starting QB.

The interesting thing is most often, the back up QBs who didn’t show much, or realize their potential, actually turn out to be pretty good coaches because they sat back, shut up and watched. I ponder the mystery of former Rider QB Steve Sarkasian who went south to US college ball and an unfortunate drinking problem, but we all have them as Rider fans.

The point I would make is I would prefer someone who can keep a somewhat level head.

Now of course on the other side is Kent (I never met an official I couldn’t hit) Austin who is also prone to stupid antics, but who also tends to win although apparently not enough for tiger cat fans.

However, given the choice of believing in someone’s ability to lead and call a good game, I will go with Austin every time.

I find it somewhat illuminating that Maas had trouble with the Riders, three times, and won two of those only because of Rider stupidity.

That would pump Maas’ tires, but despite his weapons, this version of the Deadmonton Eskimos is not last year’s version.

While it could very well come to pass that Deadmonton represents the east at the Grey Cup, based on the two games between these teams and somehow feeling that Maas’ will not match up well against Austin, I’m going to go with Hamilton 30-28, with the consent of Zoey the Magnificent Himalayan, who thinks if you mix it up on defense against the Schmoes, Maas will fold like a cheap suit and Hamilton will lurch towards Ottawa to play an even more entitled team.

Then we have Winterpeg versus BC, home of Felions, perhaps the most talented group of cheerleaders on the planet!

This is an interesting game because Winnipeg swept BC in two games, but narrowly, taking advantage of mistakes and ref errors. What the games showed upon further review is if Jonathon Jennings is a smooth operator, the BC Lions have success. When Jennings is good, he is very good, but when he is confused or pressured, sometimes he makes mistakes and turns the ball over.

That plays into the hands of the Bombers who basically rode the turnover truck and their defense to almost make it to second place, but were unable to secure the deal. A seven game winning streak has to be respected, but since then, the Bombers have gone three and three, and if the Lions had 10 lives, the Bombers would have gone 1-5. The question has to be asked if Matt Nicholls is the answer in Winnipeg and if rumors are true and Darian Durant is off to Winnipeg next year, then perhaps not all is well in Bomberland. I don’t see Winnipeg’s offense deciding this game, but if Winnipeg can confuse Jennings and force turnovers, the Bombers may have reason to open the jails on Sunday night after the game.

But in keeping with the track history of these two teams, and the closeness of their games, and seeing my University of Regina Rams unable to realize a three game sweep of the University of British Columbia Thunderbirds, I am going to go with the recommendation of Zoey the Magnificent Himalayan and see a 28-26 BC win over Winnipeg.

If these work out, she will feast on human quality tuna on Sunday night while watching Walking Dead, or the Winnipeg Blue Bomber Story!

by Riderville

Cats Should Do Well – Durant Decision Ahead

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