The Saskatchewan Roughriders sit in last place in the Canadian Football League after four weeks. Their record is 0-and-4 and ‘the glass is half full’ types will tell you they are very close and just catching some bad breaks with injuries and the fact they are losing by an average of three points a game is proof they aren’t far away from rattling off a winning streak. Well, my glass isn’t half full. I see a team that played like a flat tire on Friday night against a team they should’ve been able to study well to prepare for, seeing as how they played them last week. Instead, they were outgained 134-17 in the first quarter, never had a lead in the game, and also gave up a long kick return followed by a 15-yard run to start the third quarter. To me, this is a sign of being unprepared. Their defense is ranked last in every major category despite being taken over by head coach Corey Chamblin in the offseason. Chamblin isn’t ready to accept fault for the defense. I could be taking him out of context, and I hope I am, but his quote to the media on Friday night after the loss was along the lines of, “The one thing I can’t do is play.” That ought to rally the troops and make them want to play for him. Saskatchewan is now 0-and-3 at home and get Kent Austin’s Hamilton Ti-Cats on Sunday at Mosaic Stadium. I can’t see this club winning more than 6 games, and it’s possible that’s a generous figure.
The Roughriders have the most money in the league; which means that while they have to deal with a salary cap; they shouldn’t have an issue putting in place the best coaches, best managers, and best scouts to find talent. Somehow, though, we have a 45-year-old kicker who was cut from another team and also chased away from here in 2005. We have an aging back-up quarterback with no sign of a Rakim Cato or Trevor Harris in site. The two defensive ends look like they are finished with no quality young guys coming. How does this happen? The CFL is the easiest professional sports league in North America to be competitive in. You don’t have to win every year, but the Roughriders should never ever have a season of ‘rebuild’ where fans are subjected to this nonsense. Look at the New York Yankees. They have major financial resources. They don’t always win the World Series, but they are always relevant. I said in 2013 that when Austin was available, the Riders should have called him and given him the keys to the franchise. Many of you said I was silly and that we already had the best people running this team. Well, I’d argue that one gimme Grey Cup later the proof shows otherwise. I’d rather have Austin.
In Regina last week, there was another news report of a dog left inside a hot vehicle where the temperature climbed well above 40 Celsius. Authorities were called, the dog was rescued, and now the owners have to go through some hoops to get their pet back. What I can’t understand is that with all the awareness that is out there, how come people insist on leaving their dog inside a hot vehicle? To me, this is not an act of ignorance, but rather one of criminal intent. The penalty should not be jail, but rather a minute for minute trade with the pet coming out of the vehicle and the owner going in to the vehicle for the exact same length of time. I don’t think that’s too harsh. I could demand the owner wear a fur coat too, but I won’t.
Five service members have died after a shooting in Chattanooga, Tennessee last week. The perpetrator was a terrorist, although people who live in denial are saying he was mentally ill. Earlier this month, nine people were killed in Charleston, South Carolina and I don’t see much argument for mental illness in that case. The Confederate flag is to blame in that one. Unfortunately, I’m a skeptic in each situation. The fault lies at the feet of religion. If you took religion out of the equation of all the disputes we have in the world today, there would be nothing to fight about. It’s unfortunate to say, because religion is a big part of many of us. Will we see a day where it’s, simply, too dangerous to allow people to worship? Whether it be Baptist, Catholic, Muslim, Jehovah, whatever. I wonder.
Speaking of the Confederate flag, I’ve seen a number of news reports saying concert goers at Craven and Dauphin showed their racist tendencies by flying them outside their campers. I wonder if anyone in the news media can tell me how many Confederate flags were flown at these same events in 2014? I bet they sure can’t. Just because there wasn’t a mass shooting in 2014 doesn’t make flying the flag any less racist.
Nice person mentions to Allan Hill, Don Rae, Trevor Kerr, Jamie Brockman, Kristin Karcha, Kristin Moser, and Andrea Cherkas.
