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.