A Rider fan named “Jenny” came up with an interesting, yet simple question regarding Saskatchewan’s 30-17 loss to the Toronto Argonauts in Thursday’s last-ever season-opening game at the old Mosaic Stadium.
“In one word, what did you think of the game?” she quizzed me on Twitter @rodpedersen Friday.
I can’t even remember what my initial response was – and maybe I should’ve gone with that – but after about 10 seconds of thought, I settled on the term “disappointing.”
The Online Dictionary’s definition of disappointing is: “failing to fulfill someone's hopes or expectations.”
Yeah, that about covers it.
My expectation was that the Saskatchewan Roughriders – after six months of ballyhooed hype with the sweeping new Chris Jones regime – would storm their home field and eke out a close victory over Ricky Ray and the Toronto Argonauts.
Instead, the Roughriders shot themselves in the foot just enough times to come away with a double-digit loss.
I posed Jenny’s question to listeners of our Canada Day edition of the SportsCage on 620 CKRM and we got a wide variety of responses. They included the words “encouraging,” “optimistic,” “patience” and “determined.” However the term that was used the most by the Rider Nation was “expected.”
That one was a surprise, to me anyway. I never expected the Saskatchewan Roughriders would lose that game, nor did long-time Rider player and management-type Jeremy O’Day, who joined us on the radio and answered my “one word” query.
“Disappointing,” offered O'Day, mirroring my mindset. “It’s always disappointing when you lose, especially when it’s your home-opener. You want to get off to a good start and unfortunately we were unable to make enough plays and avoid the mistakes you need to to win a game.
“As most of the games are, they come down to three or four plays that decide them and that’s what happened to us.”
Those three plays specifically? A 57-yard punt return by Toronto’s Larry Taylor to the Rider five-yard line on only the game’s fourth play, A 56-yard touchdown reception by Toronto’s Vidal Hazelton on just their second series putting the Argos up 14-0 and a 27-yard “scoop and score” by Toronto safety Matt Black after a fumble by back-up Rider quarterback Bryant Moniz, which put the Argos up 21-7 late in the second quarter.
That’s it. Three plays! And it all came in the home debut of an almost entirely new roster and completely new coaching staff. Perhaps that’s why so many in the Rider Nation expected this team to fall in their Week 1 game. It was just too soon to expect perfection given all the moving parts.
In truth, I was mildly shocked at how positive everyone has been beginning with the post-game call-in analysts on CKRM Radio Thursday night followed by all of the fans I’ve spoken with in the days since the game.
Rome wasn’t built in a day. Whatever that means.
However I’ve got this nagging feeling of what last year’s braintrust (Taman/Chamblin or O’Day/Dyce) would’ve been subjected to had they lost a game by that same sliver of three plays. They’d be rioting in the streets around here and calling for heads to roll!
But not one year later. And that’s because, apparently, Rider Priders are willing to allow Chris Jones the time to bring his plan together. Some are even saying it’ll take six or nine games for this symphony to be conducted perfectly, however I fear this club could be out of the running if it takes that long.
Will they be in tune enough by this Friday when they visit the Grey Cup-champion Eskimos in the first real return of Chris Jones to Commonwealth Stadium? It's doubtful.
And for that reason, I'm taking the Esks in our pick pool.
And finally, as they’re building this Roughriders team over the summer, they’re going to have to do it without the services of defensive stalwart Shawn Lemon who was granted his trade request over the weekend. The Akron product and six-year CFL veteran was shipped to the Argos on Saturday for quarterback Mitchell Gale and offensive lineman Matt Sewell.
Apparently Lemon was upset over his playing time and the fact he got only 10 plays in Thursday's game compared with his defensive line counterparts Jonathan Newsome (35), Justin Capicciotti (32) and A.C. Leonard (30).
Are the rats fleeing the ship? Hardly. However it’s abundantly clear that Chris Jones is a “my way or the highway” kind of guy and if you’re not on board, you’re welcome to get off at anytime.
So Shawn Lemon did.
Who’s next?
