The Saskatchewan Roughriders were put out of their misery on Sunday after they fell 18-10 to the Edmonton Eskimos in a game that saw Kerry Joseph throw five interceptions before getting the hook. It was the worst game of Joseph's career and an unfortunate end to his playing days. Hopefully, fans will remember him for the 2007 season in which he was named CFL Most Outstanding Player and also for coming back to the Riders to help bail them out of a dire situation. As he put it in his post game interview, "I didn't get off the couch to come here and play like this. I let a lot of people down today." I give him credit for offering up his best. It wasn't good enough. Rider fans and Joseph will just have to live with that.
While I'm not a Tino Sunseri fan, there is no denying that he is a pretty good quarterback when he comes in off the bench in the middle of games. He can't start them to save his life. But, as a closer, he seems to get the job done. He looked okay again on Sunday although anything would have been better than what Joseph did. Does he have a future? Not for me to decide. It's a tough call. Watching him on Sunday made me wonder if he was shackled by the coaching staff and not allowed to execute the full play book. If that's the case, then shame on the coaches for not letting him loose to see what he really has to offer. Something to consider: the Riders went 2-and-7 without Durant. That record is the same whether it's Sunseri, Doege, or Joseph at the helm. I'm glad I'm not a coach because I'd have done the same thing. I would have brought Joseph in too. But, now that we have hindsight, the team wasn't any better or worse with Joseph in the last four games.
I have been a big supporter of Corey Chamblin, but I do question the handling of the running backs this season as well as the call in the third quarter on Sunday to set up the offense in a shotgun formation on 3rd and one when they could have handed the ball off to Jerome Messam or Anthony Allen and, likely, secured the first down. What I saw all year were a group of running backs (Allen, Charles, Messam, Ford, Toston, and Miller) who played scared. Every time an error was made, they looked to the sidelines to see if it was time for a benching. If you have players doing that, they will make many more errors than normal. The shotgun offense on the play in question on Sunday was flawed before the ball was snapped. You have Sunseri, who the team already doesn't have confidence in, getting the ball and then passing to Getzlaf, who should be a candidate for release this offseason. The MO of this team is running. So, run the ball on third and one. I thought that was the play that ended the Rider hopes.
Everyone has a bit of advice for the Riders this offseason and here's mine: make sure you have a competent back-up quarterback. All playoff teams had a different starter at the end of the year than what was envisioned when the season began in July. Saskatchewan went from Durant to Joseph. Edmonton had Reilly, but started Nicholls on Sunday. Calgary settled on Mitchell, but it was a training camp battle with Tate. BC went from Lulay to Glenn. Montreal went from Troy Smith to Crompton and Hamilton sat down Collaros only to revive him when two other pivots got hurt.
I had the pleasure of hosting the Troyanda Fall Festival on Saturday night and I think it's a real credit to the organizers as to how they've built that group up in a short period of time. There were over 400 in attendance and I know there were plenty more who wanted to attend, but couldn't get tickets because the venue simply couldn't hold enough people. In two years, it will be the 10th anniversary and I think it would be incredible to see the Gallagher Centre full with upwards of 1500 or more to watch over 100 dancers do their thing.
A CBC poll indicates Saskatchewan residents haven't got any idea on what to do about a government suggestion to move towards a privatized system for liquor stores. 34% are in favor of an Alberta model, while 30% like the status quo. The remaining 36% of people would like a hybrid or a slow transition. I call these types of people ones who would like to be a little bit pregnant. Based on those numbers, I think the government should probably leave things alone, although I'm a proponent of privatizing many of the Crowns.
US Poison Control has confirmed that more than half of the calls they receive are about energy drinks such as Red Bull and Monster and concern children younger than six years-old, some of whom suffer seizures and heart problems. That reinforces the notion these liquids should not be given to kids. A six year old could drink a beer and feel fewer side effects.
