Usual summer pain eases for Rider fans
Not long ago, in the land of the Saskatchewan Roughriders, optimism was tougher to find than a craft beer at Mosaic Stadium.
The Green and White was off to another torrid 0-2 start, and the plaintive laments were audible.
Then the Roughriders won a game — convincingly, even — and all was calm. It mattered not that Saskatchewan had defeated a disorganized Hamilton Tiger-Cats team on Saturday. 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.
Yakkers on the open-line shows were not heard spluttering on the air. Nobody complained about the quarterback, the kicker, the coach, the lineups, or the stratospheric beer prices.
As a bonus, that win — a win, people! — will resonate for a fortnight as the Roughriders are enjoying a bye week.
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 against Winnipeg.
The kicker must go!
The optics were terrible — until last Saturday, when there was joy in Riderville.
Chris Jones lived up to his reputation as a defensive guru, implementing a package that Hamilton was generally powerless to handle. The Roughriders’ secondary held Tiger-Cats ace Luke Tasker without a single catch.
Kevin 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.