Green is the colour, Football is the Game...

And the Saskatchewan Roughriders are off to a smashing start in the 2007 season!

We had some reason to be excited - new turf, new coach, new GM, new receivers; plus lots of returning veterans on offence and defence.

And then they won their two exhibition games, something I don’t remember happening for years.

But still … that’s all the prep. The test comes when the season starts.

And the season started last night.

Against the Montreal Alouettes.

The Als, who have beaten Saskatchewan 19 out of 22 matches since 1996.

At home in Montreal.

Where the Als haven’t dropped a home-opener for the past 10 years.

Where they have a win rate of over 70%.

And where the Riders lost their 2006 game to the Als, 35-8.

So there was definitely some trepidation as the season began.

And know what?

Riders Dominated: 16 to 7!

Okay, so maybe 16 points and only one touchdown doesn’t sound like domination. But the 7 points flattered the Als. They only scored 1 point on their own efforts, a rouge on a missed field goal. The other 6 points came from three safeties, conceded by the Riders.

Plus, the Rider defence came though, with 8, count’em 8, sacks of Als QB Anthony Calvillo, compared to 2 Als’ sacks of Rider Kerry Joseph.

And then there were the three picks that A.C. threw, all in the red zone, with the Rider defence stopping what looked like sure touch downs for the Als. (Plus the turnover on downs late in the game.)

Compared to the 0 turnovers on the Riders side.

So, work to do on offence, but a big monkey off the back in the opening game, breaking the Als’ decade-long streak of homeopener wins!

Next up: Henry Buri$$ and his ponies…

“Green is the colour, football is the game…”

What’s a rouge?

OK, Altitude is about to show Hamilton vs. Calgary. As a soon-to-be Ottawan, can I root for Hamilton, or am I stuck with Toronto? (Ottawa doesn’t have a team any more, right? The Rough Riders?)

BLUE is the colour! :mad:

Anastasaeon, Chelsea fan :stuck_out_tongue:

Frank, with your Saskatchewan roots you should always cheer for the Saskatchewan Roughriders! The Loyal Disorder of Rider fans is scattered throughout Canada, turning out for games in every stadium when the Riders are playing. They are the heart of the CFL!

Now, since the Riders aren’t playing in this case, you should say, “which team should I cheer for to benefit the Riders?” It’s a very Zen thing. Here, the answer is obvious - cheer for the Ti-Cats, since it’s better for the Riders that an eastern team win this game, rather than Calgary getting the two points for a win.

Oh, and you’re behind the times with the Ottawa team. Yes, the Rough Riders folded about 14 years ago, and since then the Ottawa Renegades have come and gone. Ottawa is currently without the CFL, meaning that Winnipeg has again suffered the ignominy of being moved into the Eastern division.

Now, what’s a rouge? well, in Canadian football, on field goals, the entire end zone is the goal. If you kick the ball through the uprights, you get three points for a field goal. If you’re wide of the uprights, but get the ball into the endzone, the other side has to run it out. If they don’t get it out of the endzone, you score one point - a rouge.

In last night’s game, the only offensive points that the Als put on the board was a rouge - 1 point. Six of their score of 7 were defensive points ceded by the Riders, by safeties, to get better field position.

Chelsea? is that part of CFL Europe? :slight_smile:

Heh, well, CFC :slight_smile:

Hmm, perhaps you’re right. It will certainly be easier than it would be if my town had a team.

I like that the goalposts are where they should be.

What they call a touchback in American Football also scores a rouge in the Canadian game.

By the way, I have a question:

Your GM is Eric Tillman, your head coach is Kent Austin, your quarterback is Kerry Joseph and you have DJ Flick and Jason Armstead at receiver. Shouldn’t Josh Ranek being your starting tailback?

Just got back from Taylor Field from one of the best opening games in Rider history!

Dear Henry Burri$$ was in town, our former QB, leading the Stamps. There’s been bad blood ever since Henry buggered off for the bright lights and petro-dollars of Calgary a few years ago, after having gone on ad infinitum about how much he loved Regina and hoped to play his entire career there.

After Saskatchewan creamed Calgary in the Western Semi-Final last year, he was quoted as saying that he hoped we could put it all behind us now. However, in the media on Saturday, he took a different approach, and went on about how the Rider fans taunting him just helped psych him up for the game: “Little do people know that whenever they say things about me, it makes things easier. Really, if they didn’t say anything, it would probably make it worse.”

Since the man said he liked the taunting, we took him at his word. Rider fans are nothing if not accomodating to visitors. But for some reason, no matter how loud the taunting from the fans behind the Calgary bench, it didn’t seem to help his game as much as he hoped. Total Calgary points: 1 TD, and 1 rouge, both in the first quarter. Nothing in the second quarter. Nothing in the third quarter. And nothing in the fourth quarter. And then there was the pick Henry threw to Justin, which the Riders turned into a touchdown. And Henry’s fumble by Scott Schultz, which the Riders turned into a touchdown. And the two successive sacks of Henry, deep in Calgary territory. None of the taunting seemed to help Henry, no matter how loud we were. And then their mean coach pulled Henry, so we didn’t get any more chances to help psych him up. Don’t worry, Henry - we’ll be louder and ruder next time. Anything to make a visitor feel welcome!

While Henry was struggling, the Riders were having fun. QB Kerry Joseph opened the score with a march down the field on their opening possession, for a touchdown. Calgary responded with their only touchdown right away, then both sides traded rouges. With the score at 8-8 in the first quarter, it looked like it might be a struggle.

Then Joseph and the Rider offence took over. Over the next three quarters, the Riders scored 42 unanswered points. I missed two touchdowns in the third while getting a couple of burgers. Frankly, can’t remember all the scores and plays, because they all seemed to pay off!

Final score: Riders 49, Stamps 8.

More details on the massacre here: Roughriders Destroy Stampeders; Rider Defence Stifling.

Next up: BC Lions come to Taylor Field. Here, kitty, kitty…

Hey, if the good folks of Ottawa aren’t prepared to support a team, we’re quite prepared to snap up their unconsidered trifles. However, I guess Messrs Tillman and Austin don’t think they need another RB just at the moment.

Smack in the middle of the end zone, buddy. You’re a receiver, and you’ve gotta keep an eye on your QB (and the ball), your opponent who’s covering you, and the goalposts. Now that’s good football!

Why yes, I did play CFL rules with friends when I was younger. Great game!

Yeah, yeah, yeah. There’s a lot of season left to play, and all that.

Grumble, grumble, grumble…

That’s the easiest way I’ve found to explain a single to an American football fan. A “touchback” is worth one point to the kicking team, and a missed field goal is considered a live ball that needs to be returned by the recieving team.

I’m trying to get back into 3-down football, myself. It’s been about 15 years since I’ve been able to follow the league, but I’ve found a free, live webcast that’s available outside of Canada. For other displaced Canadians (or just the curious), go to Ebahn.tv and click on the “America One” button. According to their schedule, they’re airing three games per week. Video quality isn’t great, but I find if I run the video output from my laptop to a TV, it’s much more watchable.

Give us an ownership group prepared to put a winning team on the field, and maybe we’ll support a football team. Ottawa hasn’t seen a CFL football team have a winning record since the 70s. Is there any wonder that the city has soured on the CFL?

[Heavy Sigh]

Ouch, that was ugly.

About the best I can say is that it wasn’t as bad as the thrashing on Calgary last week … . and even that is a stretch. :smack:

The Riders just never got it together this time - poor all around.

However, at least Coach Austin doesn’t share the Barrett philosophy of “You don’t pull the quarterback because it shakes his confidence.” I never understood that professional footbal players had such sensitive emotional states. Dammit, if you’re not performing, I want your confidence shaken, by the possibility of losing your position as starting quarterback. Not that it made any difference: Crandell coughed it up on his first possession.

Next up, the Esks, fresh from having won their first game.

Lot of season left to play.

I didn’t see the Riders game, but I did catch some of the Hamilton-Montreal game yesterday. Hamilton caught some bad breaks, but some were of their own doing. I don’t know what happened to them in the last few years; they were always the Oakland Raiders of the CFL: tough and gritty football players (if not always winners), and with just as tough fans. Given how the Ticats have disappointed lately, I’m surprised there aren’t public lynchings in Hamilton.

Argos thrashed Calgary last Thursday. Wonder what will happen when Toronto comes to Calgary this coming Saturday?

I’m having trouble figuring this year’s Riders out.

After their first two wins, celebrated up-thread, they met B.C. in game 3 and got thrashed, almost as badly as they beat the Stamps the week before: B.C. Lions Remain Unbeaten: Lions 42 - Riders 12. I was at Taylor Field that day, and it was ugly.

Then the next week, playing the Esks at Edmonton, they decided to play only half a game. Score at half-time was Riders 20, Eskimos 1. Final score at the end of the second half: Eskimos 21 - Riders 20. It was depressing to watch: Esks give Riders the boot.

So, one game full of errors, followed by a game where they didn’t really play. It didn’t look good for the season.

Then came Game 5, when the Esks came to Taylor Field. Given home field advantage, we were hoping for something a bit more respectable than the week before, but weren’t really very optimistic. Until play began. And then the other Riders, the ones that can play, made their appearence: Roughriders pummel Eskimos. The Rider defence kept stripping the ball, forcing turn-overs, fumbles, whatever was needed; the Rider offence took advantage; and special teams had some spectacular plays, including recovering their own ball on a punt, and later blocking an Esks punt, scooping it up, and running for a touchdown. Final score: Riders 54 - Esks 12. Things were starting to look up in Riderland.

And then last week, the re-match with the Lions, at B.C. Place. Mind you, the Riders like playing there - they’ve won several of their last match-ups with the Lions at the Place. And they did it again: Riders outrun Lions. The defence shut down the Lions (granted, the Lions were using their third string QB, since Dickenson got a concussion at Taylor Field two weeks before, and Pierce was also injured). Final score: Riders 21 - Lions 9.

So here we are, a third of the way through the season, and the Riders are second in the west. They’re also wildly inconsistent. Tomorrow, they play the Argos. Which team will show up??

Well, they did it! The Roughriders are second in the West, which means a home-play off game at Taylor Field for the first time in mumblety-mumble years! Mrs. Piper picked up our play-off tickets this week.

The Riders ended the Esks play-off hopes last week, and this weekend’s game may determine if the Bombers creep back into first in the East. And the Stamps are going to have to hit the road to come visit us!

The play-off game sold out in 25 minutes on Monday - doubt very much that many Stamps fans were able to get tickets, since most went to season-ticket holders and other Rider ticket holders, so it will be a nice green stadium.

All in all, a very nice year.

:stuck_out_tongue: :stuck_out_tongue: :stuck_out_tongue: :stuck_out_tongue: :stuck_out_tongue:

I admit, I didn’t even try. Mind, I’ve got a number of things that need doing here in Alberta; I can’t run off to Regina for a football game (much as I’d like to).

That game is Sunday, November 11, right? I’ll be in Calgary that weekend, so I’ve got plenty of time to start convincing my wife that a trip to the sports bar that day for a CFL game is a must-do. :slight_smile:

Good idea - you’ll want some beer to cry into… :stuck_out_tongue: