RIDER FAITHFUL SAVOUR A BREAK FROM MISERY
All is quiet for fans on this western front since last Saturday’s taming of the Ticats
Not long ago, in the land of the Saskatchewan Roughriders, optimism was tougher to find than a craft beer.
The Green and White was off to another torrid 0-2 start, and the plaintive laments were audible from Walsh Acres to Whitmore Park, from Uranium City to
Uren.
Then something out of the ordinary occurred. The Roughriders won a game — convincingly, even — and all was calm.
It mattered not that Saskatchewan had defeated a disorganized Hamilton Tiger-Cats team, by a 37-20 count, on Saturday at Mosaic Stadium. In these parts, it is inadvisable to be choosy when it comes to victories — especially in the summer.
Until Saturday, the Roughriders had won but 10 of their previous 47 regular-season and playoff games. Worse yet, Saskatchewan was a glorious 1-19 in regularseason games played in June, July or August, dating back to 2015.
With profuse apologies to George Gershwin: Summertime, and the winnin’ ain’t easy ...
But then it was, and there was merriment.
Suddenly, the mandatory postgame train was not as irksome.
Yakkers on the open-line shows were not heard spluttering on the air. One combustible Rider ranter, an inveterate caller to post-game programs, was atypically subdued and did not require a needle.
Nobody complained about the quarterback, the kicker, the coach, the lineups, or the stratospheric beer prices.
It was all very intoxicating. Burp.
All it took was one victory.
As a bonus, that win — a win, people! — will resonate for a fortnight.
The Roughriders are enjoying a bye week, scattered all over North America — much like their defensive backfield on July 1 during a 43-40, double-overtime loss to the visiting Winnipeg Blue Bombers.
By the time the fireworks were ignited on Canada Day, many denizens of Rider Nation were perturbed and pessimistic.
To begin the season, they had watched their beloved Roughriders lose 17-16 to the host Montreal Alouettes — quarterbacked by Darian Durant — on June 22. Saskatchewan had an opportunity to win that game on the final play, but Tyler Crapigna was wide right on a 45-yard field-goal attempt.
Crapigna was again the scapegoat on July 1, when he hit the left upright on a 33-yard attempt during the second overtime session. Winnipeg ’s Justin Medlock subsequently made a rudimentary 28-yard field goal to end the game.
And there was craziness!
The kicker must go!
“You had one job,” many people snorted, conveniently forgetting that Crapigna had made three game-winning field goals in 2016.
Kevin Glenn must go! Two interceptions! The audacity! (Forgotten, again, were the four touchdown passes he had thrown during that game.)
A matador defence had held Winnipeg to a mere 31 points in under 14 minutes. The Blue Bombers’ barrage included two rapid-fire touchdown receptions by Weston Dressler, who was uncovered while scoring 87- and six-yard majors.
Dressler’s banner game was a twist of the knife, considering that he had been unnecessarily discarded by Roughriders football operations supremo Chris Jones in January 2016. Moreover, Dressler had lit up the Saskatchewan defence eight days after another erstwhile Roughriders star, Durant, had savoured a sweet victory over his former team.
The optics were terrible — until last Saturday, when there was joy in Riderville.
Jones lived up to his reputation as a defensive guru, implementing a package that Hamilton was generally powerless to handle. After being repeatedly undressed by Dressler, the Roughriders’ secondary held Tiger-Cats ace Luke Tasker without a single catch. Clearly, Jones’s crew was up to the task(er).
Glenn threw for 380 yards and two touchdowns — giving him seven aerial majors in three games — and ran for two other scores.
The oft-criticized Duron
Carter caught seven passes for 63 yards, including his first touchdown as a Roughrider. He also made perhaps the most spectacular five-yard reception you will ever see, setting up Glenn’s short-yardage scoring sneak.
Crapigna was unerring, so naturally, his performance was not a primary topic of conversation. The inclination, it seems, is not to discuss the planes that land.
The Roughriders’ next flight, by the way, will land in Calgary — home of the perennially powerful Stampeders — in advance of a July 22 West Division contest.
So savour this respite from misery, Roughriders fans, just in case it proves to be an aberration.