The Trolls are Out This Week

A touchdown in the last minute, a short kick recovered and an interference penalty which may or may not be properly applied led to a last second field goal try from 59 yards that fell five yards short.

For entertainment value, I can’t see how you could do better, unless the Riders actually made the field goal, but the Riders lost the game in the space of five minutes in the second quarter when kick returner Mario Alford let a kick bounce off his hands into the end zone where it was recovered for a Winnipeg touchdown and then gave up a single to provide the Bombers with the margin of victory.

Even though Collaros left the game after being knocked down by the shoulder of a defensive lineman, Miller and his friends were beating the drums after the game calling for immediate suspension of the Rider defensive lineman. The sheer hypocrisy following how Adam (I eat Brady Olivera’s rescue dogs) Bighill slamming Rider QB Shea Patterson on the last play of the game of a 19-9 Bomber loss to the Riders was defended by the Bombers, is astounding, and reminded me of how self-entitled and mindless the Bombers really are.

Last year I went to Rider games with a co-worker of mine of First Nations ancestry who I got a residential school practice jersey from the Bombers, and he wanted to get it signed by some favorites of his. I contacted the Bombers and my cousin, who is a First Nations bead artist, agreed to do some lanyards for the four people – Mike O’Shea, Zach Collaros, Willie Jefferson and Ken Lawlor – as a thank you for the autographs.

So, we dropped the jerseys and the lanyards at the hotel the Bombers were staying at on Saturday and planned to pick them up on Sunday. When I contacted the Bombers, they said they had not gotten the jerseys signed, but they walked away with the lanyards.

I pointed out to the Bombers that the lanyards were a thank you for the autographs but if the jerseys were not signed because the Bombers could not be bothered, and they took the lanyards because they felt…entitled…then I asked for the return of the lanyards.

My friend kept one lanyard for himself and gave the three to friends we had worked with. We paid for the lanyards, but the sense of entitlement the Bombers showed was amazing.

I have relatives who are Bomber fans, and I am the type of person who won’t start a verbal argument but will finish it. My friend was disappointed in how he was treated, and I was thinking if a team treats a fan like this, especially one who is willing to provide First Nations lanyards as a thank you, then the Bombers showed an absolute lack of class that they often love to accuse the Riders and Rider fans of not having.

For this game I had friends in from Winnipeg for the game and took them to the fan day celebration the day before, got them on the field, and got them a gift they will never forget.

The day after the game, I saw the fight between Rider and Bomber fans behind the Bomber bench and thought of my friends and family, many who had brought their kids or parents to the game and thought someone could have been seriously hurt.

I have been trying to promote the CFL for people who might be interested in the crowd atmosphere and even the play. I go to the games with fans of the other team and even though I go to Pil Country, I would never let my friend or anyone else be physically accosted by Rider fans.

I have gone to games in Winnipeg and all over the CFL and while I hear opposing fans try to wind me up, I really don’t care because it is a game.

The first mistake the Riders made had the fans sing O Canada. If you have never heard the Bombers fans sing, they love to emphasize True North, the owners of the Winnipeg Jets for some strange reason, and then changed the words to make mention of blue as in glorious and blue. I’m a veteran, and to hear our national anthem hijacked by drunken clowns is not a pleasant experience.

Then one Bomber fan with whom I am vaguely acquainted videoed the game which showed some woman giving the finger, presumably when Bighill finally met karma and went out with an apparent knee injury. Whether she was giving Bighill the finger or some drunken toothless Winnipegger is up for debate, but while the Bomber fans clucked over the lack of class, I wrote about how the Bomber fans cheered and jeered Darian Durant when he was injured in the Banjo Bowl in 2014.

I despise Bighill because he spears people with his helmet. There has been increasing awareness of how repeated hits to the head can lead to physical and psychological problems later in life and a fair number of players with CTE, the disease that arises from two many hits to the head, who have killed themselves is a sobering reminder that football has a ways to go to make itself safer.

This game is probably the closest the CFL comes to an NCAA game with the intense rivalry and passions. While I am disappointed the Riders lost, it was not the end of my world, but when Lucky Whitehead, the Bomber who is a few bricks short of a full load, said he would buy the guys from Winnipeg who were in the fight a beer, it made me wonder how Rider fans would be treated in Winnipeg.

If the Bomber players are buying beer for people to beat up Rider fans, the Bombers have crossed the line from an intensive rivalry to criminal incitement. I am going to the Grey Cup in Winnipeg next year because I think the chance to win a Grey Cup in their Princess Incestuous Field would be worth the hassle but if I need to take a baseball bat to protect myself, you have to wonder if it is worth it.

This weekend though there are undoubtedly Rider fans looking to even the score, which I don’t condone, and there are Rider fans who are looking to enjoy the crowd atmosphere and hopefully won’t be beaten up.

The CFL is having a hard time bringing fans back to the park, to have an organization whose players will buy goons beers for fighting other fans is not the look the CFL should be encouraging.

Back to football.

The Riders lost their starting and back up centers and had to resort to having defensive lineman Micah Johnson play right tackle as they looked to jury rig an offensive line. Johnson is in his mid-30s, and I am astounded he did the old-time football thing by playing both defensive and offensive lines.

Alford cost the Riders the game, but the Riders were also their own worst enemies by playing without passion in the third quarter. The questions I have been hearing are whether the Riders are repeating their swan dives of the last two years by losing out from Labor Day, although the Riders have apparently gotten off to an early start by going winless in their last six games.

I look at this as an opportunity for the Riders to define themselves. At the start of the season, they came from behind and won games they probably shouldn’t have, while now they get ahead and are losing games they shouldn’t be.

Some of this is due to a coaching staff in its first year making some fundamental mistakes, like calling time outs at the wrong time, or failing to adjust quickly to what other teams are doing. I’m not too worried about that because everyone screws up at one point, it is how you recover that says more about the type of person you are.

There was only one practice, a walk through that took place on Wednesday and with the holiday Monday, there is a closed practice on Thursday and then the Riders fly to the place that God Forgot. The Riders had brought in some offensive linemen that last couple of weeks in response to injuries, but those are mostly American so whatever the Riders do regarding rejigging their lineup, if they use Americans to fill spots currently filled by injured Canadians, then some Americans will have to come off the roster to maintain the Canadian ratio.

That may include sitting Alford whose miscues led to the Bombers winning points. Alford has been running more to the sidelines instead of up the field. Another potential sittee could be Shawn Bane Jr. who may want the ball like any good receiver, but apparently has caught the butterfingers virus going through the Rider receiver corps.

While the Bombers rev up their fans, I suspect Collaros will play Saturday afternoon and play with a chip on his shoulder. While I would have loved to have seen Bighill waddle out onto Princess Incestuous Field looking like he ate several of Brady Olivera’s rescue dogs, the Bomber defense may be better with someone who can play instead of coasting on his reputation and resorting to spearing to maintain his day job.

The Riders should be looking at changes to promote accountability in the locker room. In a rivalry with Winnipeg, the only time the team should take the foot off the pedal is after the final gun, which considering it is Winnipeg is probably some sort of signal for a gang war.

While many fans are thinking the Riders are sliding again, and I would not rule that out, they have been competitive. They just need to maintain focus and sitting some players who have not been producing is an excellent way to maintain focus.

I will say Riders 32-30, simply because I have no use for the hypocrisy from Bomber fans.

BC goes to Montreal on Friday and while no one has been looking, Montreal has been putting on an incredible streak, going 18-1 extending back to last season and they have already clinched a playoff berth. BC put on a performance against an Ottawa club I thought might have had the moxie to eke out a win in Victoria with a 38-12 win that may have dispelled fears in Lions ranks that Nathan Rourke may have lost his quarterback touch.

Montreal is coming off a bye week and here is why I am predicting a Montreal win. The furthest western team is going to the furthest eastern team. Montreal has those stupid airhorns which are banned in every other stadium. Montreal has Noel Thorpe running their defense which is doing good even without defensive end Shawn Lemon singing The Gambler by Kenny Rogers. Did I mention the bye?

BC will be competitive, but at this point, Montreal may be pondering the apparent lack of respect they are getting and decide to give Rourke and the Lions a warm welcome. Montreal wins a shootout 38-35.

Toronto goes to Ottawa and the question must be asked if the carriage will start turning into a pumpkin for the Ottawa Redblacks. If I was thinking last week, I would have picked BC over Ottawa by using my criteria that in an east west game, bet on the home team.

Toronto fell flat against Hamilton 31-28, so Toronto is looking to close the gap while Ottawa is looking to widen it. Kudos to the Hamilton fans for chanting No Means No, and I suspect there will be donations to Ottawa and area shelters every time Chad Kelly is sacked or throws an interception.

Ottawa is 5-0-1 at home while Toronto is 1-4 on the road. Not all streaks last forever, so if Toronto loses this one, they better get used to being road warriors. Toronto should win this one 28-20.

Finally, we have Calgary at Edmonton. Edmonton won a rare Labor Day game in Calgary 35-20 and once again Calgary looks like a team that really has no identity on offense. McLeod Bethel Thompson has taken back the reins of the Edmonton offense and Edmonton after an 0-7 start seems to have some traction going on their team and are playing much better ball.

The same cannot be said for Calgary and while Jake Maier may have played the last two seasons without injury, no small thing in the CFL, he has not played to the level of a Dave Dickenson or even a Craig Dickenson.

Edmonton can use a running game or passing game to impose their will and one suspects the only thing that will defeat the Elk are themselves.

Never say never to that proposition, but Edmonton gets a leg up on Calgary with a 42-24 win.