RIDERS NOT IN TUNE FOR VICTORIES
Musical selections on stadium’s P.A. underscored team’s lack of scoring
The Saskatchewan Roughriders saluted — and, to some degree, reprised — the 1980s on Saturday.
After the Calgary Stampeders registered a 19-10 CFL victory, Bananarama’s Cruel Summer (that noted football anthem from 1983) was played over the Mosaic Stadium public-address system.
It was the timeliest of musical selections, considering that the home side’s record had just dropped to 1-6. The losses keep coming, Time After Time (Cyndi Lauper, 1984). That sorry slate also evoked memories of the 1980s, being that the Roughriders also had one victory at the seven-game mark in 1980, 1983 and 1984. Good times ...
The “Reign Of Error,” as it was dubbed by Regina Leader-Post legend Bob Hughes, devoured most of the 1980s. In 1988, the Roughriders snapped an 11-year playoff drought, and the second championship season in franchise history ensued in 1989. (Two years later, Saskatchewan was 1-6 once again.)
The Roughriders’ current woes have prompted some longtime observers to reference the good name of Mr. Hughes. What would he say about a team that has won merely six of its past 34 meaningful games? Or a team that, over a span of two weeks, incurred a cool $75,000 in league-issued fines? What a fine state of affairs. In a splendid gesture, the Roughriders recognized the 1989 Grey Cup champions on Saturday. Bobby Jurasin’s presence was a reminder that the Roughriders don’t possess a defensive end who is even remotely of his calibre. Fellow Hall of Famer Dave Ridgway was also present on a night when Saskatchewan’s place-kicking was not reminiscent of No. 36.
Playing in his first CFL game, Quinn van Gylswyk hit a 54-yard field goal but missed two 40-yarders that didn’t even net as much as a rouge. Perhaps he can derive some solace from the example of Ridgway, who battled inconsistency in the mid-1980s before becoming uncannily accurate and, well, Simply The Best.
Tina Turner’s ’89 classic was oft-played when Saskatchewan captured the 1989 title. Compare that team to the current edition and the Roughriders’ deficiencies in some areas are evident.
The 1989 team was loaded with top-flight Canadians (see: Ray Elgaard, Jeff Fairholm, Milson Jones, Roger Aldag, Bob Poley, Mike Anderson, Vic Stevenson, Ken Moore, Dan Rashovich, Glen Suitor). Now the Roughriders struggle to find seven startingcalibre national players.
The receiving corps of 1989 included Elgaard, Fairholm and Don Narcisse. Tim McCray, a multi-purpose tailback, rushed for 1,285 yards and caught 75 passes en route to being named the 1989 Roughriders’ most outstanding player.
Fast forward to 2015. The Roughriders boast only one playmaker on offence who is comparable to Elgaard, Fairholm, Narcisse or McCray in terms of an ability to disrupt a defence. That would be Naaman Roosevelt, who caught eight passes for 79 yards on Saturday after being moved from wide receiver to slotback.
Roosevelt is on pace for 1,648 receiving yards over an 18-game regular schedule. In other words, he could very well threaten the Roughriders’ single-season receiving-yardage record of 1,715, set by Joey Walters — the spectacular No. 17 — in 1981.
The Green and White’s current No. 17, Shamawd Chambers, contributed to the succession of dropped passes on Saturday. The offence was also impeded by an inability to protect quarterback Darian Durant, who was constantly Under Pressure (Queen, 1981) en route to being sacked five times.
Even with Durant at the controls, the Roughriders approach the end zone as though it is protected by a Donald Trump wall. Saskatchewan has only one touchdown in each of its past two games, both of which were losses to Calgary. Over the past three games — the first of which featured Mitchell Gale at quarterback — the Roughriders have eked out 28 points. Considering the personnel, or lack thereof, the offensive woes are not surprising.
What was surprising on Saturday was a spirited performance by the Chris Jones-coached Saskatchewan defence. The Roughriders had surrendered a league-worst average of 35.7 points per game before holding Calgary to 19 on Saturday.
But even on a night when the opposition was held to an unusually modest point total, the Roughriders’ offence was unable to Beat It.