The big news in Saskatchewan is that the Riders are 2013 Grey Cup champions after dismantling the Hamilton Tiger Cats on Sunday in front of the hometown crowd. Everything was perfect. The crowd, the weather, the domination of the game, the fans' behaviour after the game; there really is nothing to nitpick about this. The organization and fans deserve the championship and while I have poked fun at them for some of their more tragic endings to various seasons, the reality is that the Roughriders have been to four Grey Cup games since 2007 and have won two of them. They are, for the moment, the model franchise in the Canadian Football League.
One fan brought his father's ashes to the game with him on Sunday, while afterward there were a few minor reports of fights and drinking and driving; but nothing that should make national news. One woman in North Battleford called police to let them know she couldn't find her husband's Roughrider sweatpants. Not sure if GIS opened a file on that or not.
As far as players go, I'm most happy for Darian Durant. He has taken a lot of abuse over the course of his career and a lot of it has been unfair. I, finally, joined the masses midway through his six week slump this year and was beginning to doubt the 31-year-old. I was concerned his best days had passed him by. It turns out, Durant was pacing himself through an injury and managed to get himself healthy just in time for the playoffs and he ended up throwing 8-touchdowns to 0-interceptions in the three blowouts of BC, Calgary, and Hamilton. Looking back and taking into account his full body of work, Durant had the best quarterback season of any Saskatchewan pivot in history, with the exception of Kerry Joseph in 2007 (detractors say Joseph wasn't good in the Grey Cup game and I agree, but he was good enough to win and the overall performance was spectacular that season).
The offseason will be an interesting one for the Roughriders. I, fully, expect the nucleus of Durant, Kory Sheets, and Weston Dressler to come back. However, I wonder how many of the ringers brought in during this past offseason will return. You have to think Dwight Anderson is as good as gone. There are some others that will, undoubtedly, depart as well. You know the BC Lions will stock up to win on home turf just like the Riders did, so they will be a major player for talent in the offseason. I also wonder who the Riders will lose in the expansion draft to Ottawa. For now, I think Drew Willy is safe as the back up again next year. I figure Winnipeg makes a trade to get Zac Collaros from Toronto, while Ottawa figures to target Drew Tate or Bo-Levi Mitchell from Calgary. I also wonder if Ottawa would take a stab at Matt Nichols from Edmonton. Nichols missed the season, but he was expected to be their starter.
I'm watching the extreme defense in hockey funnel all the way to the Saskatchewan Junior Hockey League. At the moment, there are 13 goalies with averages under 2 per game. I remember that it wasn't that long ago you may have 2 or 3. I asked a couple of coaches last week if they'd have to totally change the way they coached if there was no longer a point for an overtime or shootout loss. A loss is a loss and that means 0 points. Instead, the extra point goes to a team if they score 4 or more. And, both coaches said it would change things dramatically.
I came across a couple of mind control type stories over the weekend. The first involves that sicko Dustin Paxton. He was the guy that beat the daylights out of his roommate and then dropped him off at the hospital. I didn't know this, but apparently there is no such thing in the criminal code for charging a guy with torture. That's reserved for only police and military officials. Regular joes can't commit torture. Only aggravated assault. How ridiculous. Speaking of ridiculous, there is another story out of England where three women were kept captive for 30 years with 'invisible handcuffs'. It's incredible that there are people out there who can wield such mind control power.
