Friday night: Riders

[Blue In BC]

Anybody getting together somewhere to watch the game?

[zark]

black bull pub, logan lake bc,anyone? It's only 2 and a half hours. 4 if you get stuck behind an Alberta driver.

[Solar Max]

South Island Fans, new digs:

Phoenix Pub
3940 Quadra St.
The Old Winery site

Enter off Quadra, parking around back. Climb the stairs, and look for the CFL memorabilia.

[Shi Zi Mi]

10:00AM, Saturday morning......I'll be watching live on my laptop.....

[Blue In BC]

Ok. Sounds like every fan for him/herself. Might be going to Whistler anyway.

[princetonfan]

I will be at Taylor Field

[orangegloves]

Anyone know if TSN.ca is going to have it or a reliable link? Being a student in Toronto means no TSNHD! Go Lions!!

[NiteHawk]

For one night, I will be a Lions fan. Do me , and the rest of the world, a favor by kicking the living bejayzus out the Riders. Then sit back and watch a certain green and white website implode.

[Vern Halen]

For one night, I will be a Lions fan. Do me , and the rest of the world, a favor by kicking the living bejayzus out the Riders. Then sit back and watch a certain green and white website implode.

C'mon, NiteHawk - you already did that to us in the preseason - and trust me, the rest of the league sat up and took notice when Richie put starters out there in the 4th quarter to run up the score against the Rider rookies. Really - Jesse Lumsden and Jason Maas against kids who still play for the Regina Thunder? Was that really necessary? The Riders used the game to evaluate players, the Eskimoes used the game to send a message.

Had a bad experience on rf.com did you?

[gizmo fan 2]

For one night, I will be a Lions fan. Do me , and the rest of the world, a favor by kicking the living bejayzus out the Riders. Then sit back and watch a certain green and white website implode.

C'mon, NiteHawk - you already did that to us in the preseason - and trust me, the rest of the league sat up and took notice when Richie put starters out there in the 4th quarter to run up the score against the Rider rookies. Really - Jesse Lumsden and Jason Maas against kids who still play for the Regina Thunder? Was that really necessary? The Riders used the game to evaluate players, the Eskimoes used the game to send a message.

Had a bad experience on rf.com did you?

Those weren't starters.

Only two projected game-one starters (Lumsden and John Comiskey) made any sort of play in the fourth quarter for the Esks in that game (according to CFL.ca play-by-play) - including offence, defence, and special teams. Comiskey is now injured for roughly a month. Lumsden wasn't with us last year.

Was it necessary? Why not? Lumsden had to get some reps in our offence without taking evaluation time away from Whitlock/Fason. It makes much more sense to test your rookies against stiffer competition in the first half than it does to play an experienced, known commodity. And it's not our fault that our 2nd-string QB has more league experience than all four SSK QB's combined. Ray didn't even dress for that game.

Esks used the game to evaluate players more than anything else - before the game, Zabransky and Ricard were both scheduled for a quarter and a half each, with Maas mopping up. I'm going to make an educated guess that the running backs were scheduled roughly the same way (Whitlock/Fason/McCarty/Lumsden for a quarter each). Our top receivers (Peterson/Stamps/Mann) and much of the name D (Lloyd/Kit Jones) were done before the end of the first quarter.

So, if you want a reason for the scoreline, look no further than the complete inability of your offensive depth (including the much-hyped Mr. Bell) to score any sort of offensive points against our rookie-laden defence in the entire second half. We had a schedule and stuck to it - sorry that Saskatchewan couldn't keep up.

I quite enjoyed that Miller seemingly felt the need to deflect attention away from how badly his team played with that (quite arguably false) quote.

[Vern Halen]

hmm, methinks he doth protest too much...

I don't know what "false quote" you're referring to - those are my words in my post, not anyone elses. Miller could give a damn about what the score is in a pre-season game, as do I. And while it's no-one's fault that ol' sattelite-dish-ears has more CFL experience has than Durant, Jyles and Bell, I just found it odd that he'd come in in the 4th quarter along with Lumsden. And speaking of Bell, he played behind our 3rd and 4th string O-linemen (you know, the kids that play in the PJFC?) - kinda hard to make plays when you're throwing off your back foot with an opposing defender draped over one arm. Bell never got a fair shake in pre-season, IMHO. Anyways, nobody's worrying - Bell has a bright future in this league - it may just not be this year.

So why wouldn't you want Lumsden to get reps with the rest of the 1st team? That's what doesn't make sense to me. Jason Maas is far more likely to play with your first team than Zabransky or Ricard, unless Maas is going to be dangled as trade-bait, which I can't see happening, given Danny's man-crush on Maas. Wouldn't you want Lumsden playing with the rest of your first team? Hall would have looked like a jackass if Lumsden would have been injured in the 4th quarter of a meaningless game...

Anyhoo - the Eskies may have closed the gap this season, but if the Riders are going to finish in the middle of the pack this year, they'll still be looking down on the Eskies in the standings. Danny Can't-Coach-Ya will be meddling with Hall's coaching just enough to screw it up for the Esks.

Fair enough - you guys spanked us 37-7 in preseason last year and 2008 turned out ok for the Riders...other than fibula-gate....good luck against LeFors Thursday - even though he's playing on a team in the ladies division, he's going to have a banner year this year, I think.

On another note, Lions fans are probably getting a good snicker at and Esks fan and a Rider fan bickering on a Lions fansite...

[Rammer]

On another note, Lions fans are probably getting a good snicker at and Esks fan and a Rider fan bickering on a Lions fansite...

[gizmo fan 2]

hmm, methinks he doth protest too much...

I don't know what "false quote" you're referring to - those are my words in my post, not anyone elses. Miller could give a damn about what the score is in a pre-season game, as do I. And while it's no-one's fault that ol' sattelite-dish-ears has more CFL experience has than Durant, Jyles and Bell, I just found it odd that he'd come in in the 4th quarter along with Lumsden. And speaking of Bell, he played behind our 3rd and 4th string O-linemen (you know, the kids that play in the PJFC?) - kinda hard to make plays when you're throwing off your back foot with an opposing defender draped over one arm. Bell never got a fair shake in pre-season, IMHO. Anyways, nobody's worrying - Bell has a bright future in this league - it may just not be this year.

So why wouldn't you want Lumsden to get reps with the rest of the 1st team? That's what doesn't make sense to me. Jason Maas is far more likely to play with your first team than Zabransky or Ricard, unless Maas is going to be dangled as trade-bait, which I can't see happening, given Danny's man-crush on Maas. Wouldn't you want Lumsden playing with the rest of your first team? Hall would have looked like a jackass if Lumsden would have been injured in the 4th quarter of a meaningless game...

Anyhoo - the Eskies may have closed the gap this season, but if the Riders are going to finish in the middle of the pack this year, they'll still be looking down on the Eskies in the standings. Danny Can't-Coach-Ya will be meddling with Hall's coaching just enough to screw it up for the Esks.

Fair enough - you guys spanked us 37-7 in preseason last year and 2008 turned out ok for the Riders...other than fibula-gate....good luck against LeFors Thursday - even though he's playing on a team in the ladies division, he's going to have a banner year this year, I think.

On another note, Lions fans are probably getting a good snicker at and Esks fan and a Rider fan bickering on a Lions fansite...

I assumed you were indirectly referring to Miller's quote about "(the Esks') agenda was to play their veterans for a longer period of time." If not, my error.

Agreed, entirely...logically, Lumsden should get reps with the first team. But since Ray wasn't playing, Lumsden got time with the guy most likely to play after him - Maas, like you said. When we know how he runs and what he can do, I figure the need for him to work with the first-team OL is reduced (he likely does enough of that in practice)...he doesn't really need the holes to open for preseason, either (and he ended up seeing them anyways).

Could be...we'll see. Depends how long it takes us to gel and how Durant does (especially with Cates out).

Hey, we know LeFors better here than the Bomber fans do...I'm not scared, but I'm wary, he looked okay on the highlights of their last game, and with those receivers to throw to, we'll see what happens. He certainly looked fairly good in relief of Ray in 06, should've had a couple of wins if our D could have done anything right.

Hahaha...no kidding.

[CatsEyes]

On another note, Lions fans are probably getting a good snicker at and Esks fan and a Rider fan bickering on a Lions fansite...

And...yes we are

[zark]

Rider fans only complain about $6.00 beers and Eric Tilman references on their forum. EE forum?...meh... The Lions forum is obviously much more interesting.