The definition of the "precipice": The brink of a dangerous or disastrous situation.
The definition of a "crisis": A time of intense difficulty, trouble, or danger.
Given the choice of the two, I'd say the Saskatchewan Roughriders are on the precipice, rather than in a crisis. Anyone who's truly been through a crisis knows the state of the 2012 Saskatchewan Roughriders hardly qualifies as that.
What are we talking about? Well the Roughriders - who have quickly gone from Canada's Team to Saskatchewan's Team - are in the throes of a five-game losing streak which, to my knowledge, is the longest for the football club since 2005. That pre-dates all but one of the current players on the roster. Their most recent loss, 17-10 to visiting Calgary on Saturday, was just another example of missed opportunities.
Is the season slipping away? No I don't think so but the Green & White has to win six of its last 10 games just to go 9-9 and even that record wouldn't guarantee a playoff spot.
First, the bad news. The Rider players seem at a loss for answers as they spoke after Saturday's game.
"They got us in the middle (of the defence) and we couldn't get it sorted out at the time," snorted Rider defensive end Brent Hawkins. "It's not just up to us. It's up to the coaches too to see what's going on. We did the best that we could. Things just fell the way that they did."
Linebacker Mike McCullough, the only player who knows what it's like to lose five-in-a-row in Saskatchewan, seemed the most befuddled after the match.
"He (Stamps running back Jon Cornish) found the hole at the right time," McCullough huffed live on CKRM. "There's nothing we can do about it. Actually there's something we can do but we just didn't do it.
"It's just frustration. That's the biggest word for it right now. We don't know what's going on. We got the talent. We just aren't making the plays we need to make."
You've got to give Mike a pass on that one. His head was likely swimming as he was interviewed seconds after the final gun, right there on the field.
And now, are you ready for it?? The good news!! The 2-6 Winnipeg Blue Bombers are in town this Sunday for Labour Day Classic XLVI and that's a game the Riders never lose. Actually, they're 29-16 all-time against Winnipeg on this weekend and carry a seven-game win streak into the match. The Bombers haven't won in Regina since 2004 when they came away with a 17-4 upset. It's a slam dunk!
This is all tongue in cheek of course. The 7-1 Blue Bombers overlooked the Riders last year and were swept by scores of 27-7 and 45-23 in the L.D.C. and Banjo Bowl so it wouldn't be prudent for Saskatchewan to overlook their prairie foes now that the shoe is on the other foot.
In fact the Riders aren't exactly ridin' high themselves right now. We said after the bye week in early August we'd soon find out who the real Riders are.
So far, we're not liking what we're seeing.
