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.