Normally in the sports world, as soon as I'm ready to give up on someone or something I'm proven to be wrong. I'm hoping that's the case with Darian Durant as I am not sure if it's best to say he's on a two month slump or whether we've seen the best of Durant and he's now on the downward slope of his career. While the Roughriders were 11-and-7, they finished the year 3-and-6 in their final nine games (the second half is when the 'real' games are played). Durant started off with eighteen touchdowns and no interceptions, but since that time has 13-TDs and 12-INTs. A fortune was spent on the offensive line. A high calibre receiver in Geroy Simon was added to a mix that already included Weston Dressler, Chris Getzlaf, Taj Smith, and Rob Bagg. And, Kory Sheets is either the first or second best running back in the CFL. Like I said at the start of the season, if Durant can't get it done this year then he simply cannot get it done. We will find out as soon as this weekend if he can get it done.
While on the topic of Sheets, I had no problem with his outburst last week against Calgary. You can't have it both ways. When he was injured and the offense did zilch, the absence of Sheets was the predominant excuse. Then he comes back and it's a huge game against a team he's really motivated to do well against and you don't give him the ball? It makes no sense. Furthermore, I'm just glad to see a player on this roster show some emotion and frustration for not performing to peak levels. Fans saying Sheets should've been benched should refer to the bar beating in August. We don't know what was actually really said, so let's wait for a full investigation. You can't go by what TSN says. Again, fans wanting it both ways.
I think Rider fans should brace themselves for a rebuild next year. The money spent on talent this year will be used as an excuse to strip down for the time being. We, fans, know this to be a fallacy when it comes to sports, as evidenced by the Boston Red Sox and Kansas City Chiefs. The Red Sox just went from worst to first in one year by winning a World Series. The Chiefs are 9-and-0 in the NFL after going 2-and-14 a year ago. Just don't try to tell that to the Edmonton Oilers, who have been rebuilding since the Gretzky trade in 1988.
I'm late to the party getting information on the Miami Dolphins bullying issue. If you haven't heard, one of their players has left the team because he has been bullied and fears further repercussions. I never played pro sports at a high level, so I don't get the whole teasing of rookies and certain individuals as a means to 'include' them in the group. It just makes zero sense to me. I've been around sports enough to see athletes get teased and it is, usually, received really well by the victim. The victim somehow sees this as 'acceptance'. It's incredible that you can get away with this in a day and age where singling out someone by their race or sexual orientation could get you kicked out of a league, that it is somewhat acceptable to tease someone based on their years of service to the team or because they may be more shy than the rest of the group.
The ringleader of the bullying has been suspended. That speaks volumes for offenses in sports when you see the Colorado Avalanche goaltending continuing to play after appearing in court on domestic violence charges.
I was in a social setting this weekend where we talked about a particular Yorkton business that recently expanded. A newcomer to our city remarked how customers would come into the old location and complain that it was too difficult to find products and navigate through the store because there was too much crammed into the small location. Well, now this same person is hearing the new store is no good either because you have to walk too far once you are inside to get to the product you want to buy. There is no pleasing some folks.
I had another conversation with a friend over the weekend about novice hockey and I got to thinking why is it that hockey requires little children to play on regulation sized ice. If you think about it, do we ask young Mosquito aged baseball players to pitch off a mound at Major League distances? Do the batters have to hit the ball 400 feet to go yard? In basketball, the nets aren't NBA measurements from the floor, and I just came from an indoor soccer tournament where the kids played on a smaller surface with smaller nets than the pros. The exception, I suppose, would be football but that's a sport based on moving the ball in ten yard increments so there is no getting around that, although the young kids don't play with a kicking game. It's omitted.
Nice person mentions this week to Todd Haas, Mike Jakubiec, Dominique Holstein, Jeff Goebel, and Abi Adefolarin.
