Are the Riders One and Done or Prepping for Grey Cup Run?

Add to that the mystifying removal of equipment manager Dwayne Mandrusiak prior to the season when he was booted after 49 years of service and with the reduced seating in Commonwealth Stadium, the Elk have managed to shoot themselves in the foot, repeatedly, managing to almost completely alienating themselves from their public.

Edmonton traded Trevor Harris to Montreal, and proceeded to lead them to the playoffs. Edmonton got Nick Arbuckle from Toronto, but he never saw the field, so who leads the Chronic Wasters next year is yet to be determined.

Wally Buono will be helping the Chronic Wasters pick a new leadership team

BC ended their season with a spanking of Edmonton, which always looks good, with Nathan Rourke in charge. Rourke was thrown into the quarterback seat in game one against the Riders and other than a rough quarter and a half, he almost came back to win the game for the Lions.

No one doubts Michael Reilly as a leader in quarterbacks, but his refusal to come out of games, especially when he is injured, has done nothing to set the Lions back. Reilly is expected to be a leader, but when a leader has a belief that he is irreplaceable, well, the Lions may want to ask if they are getting value for what they are paying Reilly.

When one player makes a lot of money compared to his teammates, it should not become a surprise if his supporting cast is not as the same level as he is. When you look at the offensive line of BC, they are as bad as the Riders and either coaching or paying for better offensive players would have resulted in a better record for BC.

Ottawa missed the playoffs in the east despite beating Montreal in an upset on the final weekend. Ottawa did not have the talent to compete this year, but between Paul La Police and defensive coordinator Mike Benevedies, Ottawa could complete with most teams until the trick plays and the talent ran dry.

So this week we start off with the Eastern Semi Final with Montreal going to Hamilton. Montreal had a chance to put pressure on Hamilton to win to finish second, but choked against Ottawa and now has a question to be answered this post season.

Can Montreal overcome their penalty problems to give their offense and defense a decent chance to win? Penalty problems are the result mostly of players putting themselves ahead of their team.

That selfishness is the difference between winners and losers. Those teams and players who win, put the team ahead of their own interests, including retaliation when getting hit by the other team.

Hamilton uncorked their A team against the Riders, who appeared to have sent representatives of the Regina Riot in lieu of real players. While Jeremiah Masoli appeared to have a good game, Masoli is as inconsistent as they come and can be taken off his game.

Hamilton may or may not have a reasonable running game, and while the temperatures for the Eastern final seem good, this is the time of the year when either snow or cold is the rule of the day, and no running game may be the difference between hoisting the Grey Cup and not hoisting it.

Montreal has at times shown its consistency on offense and defense, but has also demonstrated a consistent ability to screw up a big play with a penalty, something we know all too well in Riderville.

Hamilton for its part looks like a team that thought just because it made it to the Grey Cup two years ago, if they kept that team together, they might actually win for the first time since 1999.

Hamilton doesn’t have a running game, but Montreal does, and with Harris, they also have a quarterback who if he gets into a groove can do serious damage down field with good receivers.

While Montreal can do a consistent running game, it also has players who care more about their image than in the team success. Hamilton is playing to show their fans they are taking this run at a hometown Grey Cup seriously.

There is a very real chance that Trevor Harris can spark Montreal to beat Hamilton but Hamilton seems to be more disciplined than Montreal and for that reason, they will win a close game 22-21.

Meanwhile in the frozen wasteland of Mosaic Stadium, which will be at a balmy plus 1 on Sunday, the Riders face Calgary trying to prove to their fans, if not to themselves, that they are a legitimate Grey Cup contender.

Calgary may have beaten Winnipeg in the final meaningless game of the season, but in doing so showed Bo Levi Mitchell still has some kind of problem with his shoulder. The other intangible is which Calgary players will not make the trip to Regina due to restrictions of travel for non-vaccinated players.

The Riders managed to win their last of three games against Calgary and actually had managed to keep close with Calgary in two previous games. But the Riders have a problem with putting teams away with their Swiss cheese offensive line.

When it comes to the Riders versus the Stampeders, I feel better about their chances than playing the Bombers, but if the Riders can show discipline, get a running game going, play tenacious defence and make the occasional deep pass, they can win.

In the end, the Riders biggest problem is character. Their embrace of penalties indicates this team, much like Montreal, is just concerned with looking good than the play of the team.

I’d still say the Riders chances of beating Calgary are actually pretty good, but the Riders have yet to demonstrate a consistent offense performance and Calgary in striking early against the Riders are looking to rattle their confidence.

In the end, it will be a close game, as many games have been with the Riders, but while I will not be surprised at a Rider win, and would love a Rider win, Calgary will take this one 21-20 as Brett Lauther misses a field goal in the final minute.

by Greg Urbanoski

Are the Riders One and Done or Prepping for Grey Cup Run?

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