Riders in Edmonton this weekend

There is a good story about Rocky Butler on CFL.ca today. It looks like he will get the mop up duties after Joseph , who will play for most of the game. It also looks like Darien Durant won't get to play which most likely means unless he is signed to the practice roster he won't be with the Riders. Well there goes that prediction.

Riders win sleeper

Well the Riders played over the weekend (Saturday) and won 14-8. Really that is about all there is to say. The 1st pre-season game is usally a little vanilla but this game was boring. But don't worry I still have a few words to say:

1) big hit on Jason Tucker, knocked his helmet off, good to see that from the defence
2) the defence was solid, stiffling the Esks every which way
3) sepcial teams needs some work, like last year there was too many big returns
4) Sherry trapp is crap, purely a professional comment she is probably a nice woman
5) There was some mix ups with sound, is it really that hard to have a decent sound system? I'm not talking about a new one I just mean one that works or somebody who knows how to work it
6) video replay was used, which is cool, they even had a CFL branded video booth, which is good to see it executed properly
7) Last but not least SHABAZZ

Over 100 million have access to CFL games

Really?? Yes Really!! In this article from cfl.ca the details are outlined of all the regional sports networks that are carrying the games. In fact It wouldn't surprise me if the CFL had more coverage than the NHL. Yes, yes it is all regional coverage but exposure is good, and apparently some of the American athletes here are recording audio promos to be played in their old college stomping grounds. This is great!! get in at the grass roots make the CFL a viable option for the athletes and it will grow the game.

Take one a day and call me in the morning

The Riders are down to one a day practices (unless they canceled the second practice yesterday) as they tune-up for Saturday's pre-season game against Edmonton.

I just checked the Esks site to see what was going on and found this

Fan Day - Nearly 2,000 fans enjoyed Eskimo Fan Day presented by Alberta Pork. Included in the festivities were complimentary sausages from Alberta Pork, Coca-Cola soft drinks and Old Dutch chips, as well as an opportunity to see the Eskimos practice. Following the two hour session, the fans got a chance to get autographs from the entire team

This drives me nuts!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

The Riders should be all over this type of thing. This is how you treat your fans, this is why they can get 50,000 to a game. Yeah yeah Edmonton is so much bigger, bullshit we are supposedly the greatest fans in the league and yet we only sell-out 1-2 games a year and there is no competition for the entertainment dollar in this town. I went to get tickets for the game and they had a ratty old trailer set-up for season ticket holders. Just a few ideas for the customers you should be ecstatic to see.

1) A tent so the season ticket holders aren't standing in the blazing sun / or the rain
2) a water cooler maybe ...gasp... get it sponsored
3) Staff training, I did not see one smile from the ticket staff unless it was someone they knew. Whether they like it or not this is retail, treat the customer right and they'll be back. I saw one woman that left without buying tickets after some debate about the teen tickets, here's a tip sell the tickets!!! tell them only teens can use them, it then becomes their decision, because they were obviously interested in the tickets. Don't let them leave without buying and don't let them leave with a frown on their face.
4) If there are going to be lots of people picking up tickets have players there for autographs, look you need to treat your customers right. This organization thinks that because they are the only game in town that they don't have to try hard. It's an arrogant attitude and leads to handouts from the provincial government when the government should be asking what they did to improve the customer experience, and why your marketing was only able to attract enough people for one sell-out

Anyway I'll see you at the game on Saturday!!

Riders hitting the green...field turf that is

Camp started last week and the fans are chomping at the bit. I must admit I'm quite excited to see how the offence will work. There is talk from Rob VanStone of some creative formations using Szarka and Hathaway as well as five receiver sets. Although from the practices I've seen I don't know who those five receivers will be. Today I watched Corey Grant secure a spot... in the unemployment line. This guy is frustrating, everyone saw him do his thing in Hamilton but he has never come close to that season again, and quite frankly it has been there for the taking.

Little tidbits, this is the all double double team:
Kenton Keith
Darian Durant
Rontarius Robinson
Dominic Dorsey
Mike McCollough
Mike Mahoney
Chris Cowan
Kareem Kelly
Scot Schultz
and my favorite
Shukree Shabazz

Yes that's Right Shabazz!!!



That Stancil he's so hot right now!

Prediction: Darian Durant makes the team, I just like the name

Busy day for Riders

The state of the franchise address happened today here are the links for each of the key players:
Danny Barrett
Roy Shivers
Jim Hopson

The Riders also signed six of their Canadian draft picks as well as Dwan Epps (he was injured all last year) and Quarterback Darian Durant. He is an interesting case at 5-11 and weighing 217 pounds he seems small but reminds you of Tracy Ham, or Matt Dunigan. Here is the link to his UNC player bio. He holds numerous school passing records. Perhaps he is someone to watch come training camp.

I missed my Tee time

Unfortunately I was not able to ask any hard hitting questions of Kerry Joseph as I was called away for diaper duty / lunch / book reading / waaaaahhhhh time. Anyway here is the link so you can read it at your pleasure. Unfortunately most of it is ...Welcome to Saskatchewan... How do you think you will do? To which Kerry says, thanks and we should do good....Insert comment for a particular position ie; offensive line. It would have been interesting to ask him how many necklaces he collected during the Mardi Gras promotion in Ottawa last year or if Lonie has a pet rat or just a weasel?? You know things that people are really interested in.

On another note, Kerry is no longer going to see the beautiful Rideau Canal in summer or the Byward market or be able to hob knob with the Prime Minister, or be able to go to a nice bar or dance club but there are alternatives. Wascana was just re-modeled and if you bring along some industrial DEET repellent the mosquito's are really not that bad. The farmers market is on Wednesdays and Saturdays along 1 block of downtown but according to locals there is no parking so you might want to make a day of it. We've got premier Calvert who I am sure would be willing to do a strawberry social with you at the lieutenant governor's residence. And we have the Big Valley Jamboree, which is a big country hoe-down just outside of Regina in the ummm.... Village of Craven. Of course if you don't like country your kind of screwed.

Welcome to Saskatchewan Kerry.

Oh yeah, I just about forgot the Riders signed three more yesterday here's the link to the story. Receiver Kareem Kelley looks like he might have some potential based on his resume.

Tea time with Kerry

There is a live chat with Kerry Joseph May 10th @ 3pm eastern. The Frozen is going to ask a few questions, not sure what our slant will be or how many questions we will be able to ask but we will post as much of the transcript as possible for our loyal reader.

Riders pick-up four

The Riders signed four imports today here is a link to the story. Two are DB and two are WR. One of the WR has experience with Green Bay and Edmonton and the other is a University of Cincinnati grad. Not much to say these guys will hopefully provide some competition and maybe one of them can stick to help out on teams or be on the taxi squad.

Saviour in Ottawa

It was reported about 10 days ago that the CEO (Frank D'Angelo) Steelback breweries in Tiverton Ontario had released the new uniforms for the Ottawa Steelbacks (he would change the name from the Renegades). Now I have discussed with some friends and there are mixed feelings. I do think that the league needs to partner with whomever is the new owner and make the right choice not just the quick and easy one. That was what lead to the Gliebermans coming back. However I think this is quit good. Besides being idiots the Gliebermans just did not know the market they were dealing with. I thought that having Bill Watters (sp?) was a good sign and it was in the beginning as they did things right however there internal group seem to crumble, and as the group crumbled so did the franchise.

What I like about this is that the focus is put back into having a team back in the capital not that there is no longer a team. I lived in Ottawa during the first reign of the Gliebermans and let me tell you having them, plus Horn Chen and then the Gliebermans back helps to deteriorate your fan base however they were still able to get 17-19 thousand fans out for a team that was in dis-array. There is a base and the key to expanding that is marketing and specifically grass roots marketing. If you take a look at the commercials D'Angelo does you can see that he has a firm grasp of this. Marketing is the key to any sports success and those who don't know that are doomed to fail. The most successful league in the world, the NFL still has a team from a city that consists of 90K people. No other major sport can claim this, not even the CFL. This is all due to marketing!!! Tom Wright has been a driving force in this area and although he is being a bit heavy handed with this you can't take away the enthusiasm.

Fiscal irresponsibility and two signed

Now the fiscal irresponsibility has nothing to do with TJ Stancil and Fred Perry signing (although not sure how much they signed for) actually these are two good signings because I think these are the type of players that add good depth. Stancil could step up and contribute more this year especially with the loss of Gordon. In fact I predict that the loss of Gordon will be felt more than the loss of Holmes. Giving away a talented Canadian should be scrutinized every time, no matter who you are getting. Gordon was shaping up to be a presence in the backfield unlike the prancing Mario Edwards who was always around the ball especially when it came time to congratulate a teammate for a tackle.

Now back to the fiscal irresponsibility I am extremely glad to see a letter from Stu Coward in today's Leader-Post about the funny accounting reported by the Riders. They supposedly made 2plus million dollars when 2.5 million or so was loan forgiveness from the provincial government. If the Riders are making enough to pay back the loan then no forgiveness should be given and if they need to take out another loan for new turf then so be it. I have often claimed that Riders fans / and the organization are not the best in the CFL because we do not sellout more than a game a year which is just ridiculous.

By forgiving this loan it just perpetuates the mediocre-ness of this franchise, the board does not have to work hard because they made "money" or will be bailed out by the gov't, the fans know they are the best so we don't need to go to the games because the team will never leave. This is a poorly run franchise from marketing. PR, sales etc. and nobody is willing to look themselves straight in the eye and say we are not the best franchise, fans or organization and we need to pull up our socks and sell out this stadium for every game no matter who we are playing and how bad our team is.

Cortez a Rider

Well Shivers is certainly burning up the airwaves we'll see if the strong finish leads to a strong season. I for one really like this move although Cortez is a guy who could easily be a head coach in this league so the question is, does Barrett need to win right away? would Shivers be willing to replace Barrett with a white coach? Either way this continues a positive trend from the past two weeks and should give the publicity / ticket sales department a continued boost.

Now what will be the response of the Rider faithful? do we finally deserve the title of greatest fans in the CFL by actually selling out more than just the Labour Day game?C

Greene traded for three used footballs

The Riders were busy today not only did they make there picks, including Andy Fanutz (more to follow) they also traded Nealon to the Als for Almondo Curry and 5th round pick. Now I realize they are not in the best position but holy cow talk about getting shafted Curry didn't start last year and a 5th round pick well that's a through away.

What I am saying here is that Nealon was the starter, somebody the brass believed was worth keeping rather than paying for Hank. So we screwed up in investing in Greene we trade for a guy who is not a starter that's not good math. Now if Curry reverts to his previous all-star form then we've got something, because there is always the Matthews factor. But Matthews is the winningest coach in CFL history and we have not won the cup since ... a long time. I'm going with Matthews on this one because I wouldn't be surprised if Curry decides he can hold out again.


Now on a more positive note:

Here are the particulars for Fanutz
6' 4"
220-pound
Went to Western
CIS career leader
Touchdowns 41
Catches 189
Yards 4,123

This is an exciting pick, real exciting. To get a skilled Canadian with these kind of numbers should make Joseph happy. Now some are already mentioning Elgaard in the same breath, well I sure hope it is the mythical Elgaard from his early days because I saw him for the last 4 years and thank goodness for the quota because his reptilian play was so frustrating.

Rider Drafts (plural) and notes:

Article in the Leader-Post today about the affects of the dispersal draft will have on the upcoming college draft. For example the Bombers picked up two Canadian lineman so they most likely won’t be picking a lineman. Let me rant because I can, the best teams always get the best player no matter what. Look at Edmonton, they continue to stockpile quarterbacks (Khari Jones agreed to terms yesterday) this is part of the reason they are so successful. If they have a surplus they can trade for a quality proven guy rather than gambling on a draft pick. This story irks me because it is again thinking small, if the best player available for the Riders is at a position we are already set pick him anyway things will work out. Look at the Pats, they did not really need an offensive lineman in last years draft but they picked up two and both played significantly. The Riders need to pick the best players rather than filling a need because this is the only way we will get better. Besides we freakin' picked a guy in the dispersal draft who has been retired for two years. So we should just keep it simple and pick the best available.

This is a quote from Bill Belichick (taken from Mike Reiss' boston.com blog) with regards to picking the best player:
"...I go back to when I was with the Giants and we had [linebackers] Lawrence Taylor and Brad Van Pelt, and took [linebacker] Carl Banks. Nobody liked that pick. 'That was a pretty stupid pick, why would you take Banks when you have Van Pelt and Taylor?' It turned out to be probably one of the best picks with the Giants. I think you have to take guys that you think are good football players. Putting the team together, that’s certainly a process you have to go through. You can't try to manufacture someone -- 'we need this position' -- and take a guy. If he isn't able to do the job, then you still need that position."

I know a long quote but it illustrates the point very clearly.

Kerry Joseph is scheduled to attend the Riders annual meeting Saturday 10 am at Queensbury center. The Riders have also released the ever frustrating Corey Grant although he will probably be re-signed, yee-haw.

Trevis Smith was due to resume his trial today (see the front page story in the Leader-Post) however contrary to this apparently Smith's lawyers have resigned citing irreconcilable differences with their client. A big oops for the Leader-Post, and wow is this thing weird.