Interesting to read this week's picks by the writers @ 3downnation

Montreal @ Ottawa

Drew Edwards: Montreal in free fall. Hope this game doesn’t become a free-for-all. REDBLACKS
Justin Dunk: At this stage of their careers Burris > Glenn. Barely. REDBLACKS
John Hodge: In a battle of two struggling veteran QBs, I’ll take the team with the better receiving corps. REDBLACKS
Joel Gasson: Hard to believe in Montreal right now. REDBLACKS
Ian Busby: For an encore, Duron Carter will push over the LumberJoes. It still won’t help his team win. REDBLACKS
Josh Smith: Henry Burris is hearing footsteps, Duron Carter is going to go full Ric Flair and embrace being the hated heel, and Kevin Glenn is going to have a great Kevin Glenn game. ALS
Santino Filoso: Fresh off a bye and at playing at home, this one’s a no brainer REDBLACKS
Totals: REDBLACKS 6 ALS 1

Calgary  @ BC

Drew Edwards: They win this one and I’m all in on B.C. They will. LIONS
Justin Dunk: Calgary is at their best when challenged. STAMPS
John Hodge: Jonathon Jennings cements his status as the CFL’s newest elite quarterback. LIONS
Joel Gasson: Another game of the year candidate. Time for BC to show they’re for real. LIONS.
Ian Busby: Epic meeting between the top two teams in the West. Winner gets the hammer in the season series. Could be another classic. STAMPS
Josh Smith: Game of the week, for sure. The winner here will own the tiebreaker and have the upperhand in the race for first in the West. Should be close, but home team prevails. LIONS
Santino Filoso: Home field proves to be in the difference in a clash of the best of the West LIONS
Totals: LIONS 5 STAMPS 2

 

?‍?This second game should be the game of the week. It's for 1st place of course, and the series between the two teams.

?‍?Wally vs Dave and  Jennings vs Mitchell......Messam, Paredes vs. Rainey and the BC defence

Dan Ralph - Canadian Press
B.C. won the first meeting 20-18 in the season opener for both teams. Chris Rainey figured prominently in that game for the Lions with two TDs, including one on a 72-yard punt return.

Calgary outscored B.C. 22-7 in the fourth quarter July 29 en route to a thrilling 44-41 overtime victory at McMahon Stadium. Quarterback Bo Levi Mitchell completed 29-of-44 passes for 364 yards and three TDs.

?‍?Do you agree with the majority?

Bye the way - MBB picks have BC over Calgary 18-11......with 1 tie predicted!

Edited August 20, 20169 yr by Mr Dee

3 hours ago, Zontar said:

Whatever happened to Darian Durant the supposed leader of that team? Jones rips the heart out and Durant hasnt filled the void with any sort of leadership. Meekly in the background waiting to see what team he'll play for next.

What's Durant supposed to do? Can't do it himself. The Riders are like the Titanic sinking. Plugging one hole wont keep it afloat.

2 minutes ago, Noeller said:

Lotta hindsight here re: Harris and Ray. Second half of last season Harris didn't look all that good, IMO, and there were questions about whether the first half was a bit of a fluke. Ray is a legend... One of the best of all time. It's not as cut and dried as some would like to make it based on this season so far. 

LOL at the Argos. It is now.

Edited August 21, 20169 yr by iso_55

5 minutes ago, Noeller said:

Lotta hindsight here re: Harris and Ray. Second half of last season Harris didn't look all that good, IMO, and there were questions about whether the first half was a bit of a fluke. Ray is a legend... One of the best of all time. It's not as cut and dried as some would like to make it based on this season so far. 

It doesn't matter if Ray is a legend, father time is undefeated. I didn't expect Harris to be nearly this good - I honestly thought Drew Willy was a better QB post 2015.

But he was still the easy choice to be the starting QB for the Argos this year, I was SHOCKED when they re-signed Ray.

 

Quote

 

Roughriders are a big joke

 

Saskatchewan’s CFL franchise deserves all the criticism it gets

You have to think some Saskatchewan Roughriders fan somewhere is getting the urge to throw his or her jersey on the field.

    While I don’t condone that type of behaviour, all you have to do is check social media lines and sports talk shows in Saskatchewan to feel the frustration of Rider Nation. After Saturday’s 53-7 stinker of a loss to the Tiger-Cats in Hamilton, it is getting harder and harder to see the light at the end of the tunnel for the Roughriders, who fall to 1-7 on the season and are 6-29 in their last 35 outings in the regular season and playoffs.

    A lot of TV viewers undoubtedly switched over from the game telecast on TSN over to see the impressive and heartfelt final performance of the Tragically Hip live from Kingston, Ont., on CBC. The iconic performance of Hip frontman Gord Downie, who is battling terminal brain cancer, will ensure the Roughriders performance will be forgotten for a short moment. The criticism for the “Green and White” won’t stay at bay for long.

    Outside of a handful of plays against the Tiger-Cats at Tim Hortons Field, the Roughriders weren’t in Saturday’s game at all. The second half really felt like it was mail it in time. You would like to see signs of improvement, but the team just keeps regressing.

    In the worlds of legendary former NFL head coach Bill Parcells, “You are what your record says you are.”

    Right now, the Roughriders are a very brutal CFL football team.

    There have been a number of things that have been hard to stomach, and a handful of them are as follows.

 

http://stankssermon.blogspot.ca/2016/08/roughriders-are-big-joke.html

 

25 minutes ago, iso_55 said:

What's Durant supposed to do? Can't do it himself. The Riders are like the Titanic sinking. Plugging one hole wont keep it afloat.

Take on the responsibility like leaders do. "I played horribly last night. My 4 picks hurt my teams's chances of winning" "I feel badly for our fans" etc etc. would be a start.

Doesnt matter that he's surounded by crap. He's the veteran, he's supposed to step up.

Burris benched, Harris to start. Rick Campbell is no dummy.

10 minutes ago, Zontar said:

Take on the responsibility like leaders do. "I played horribly last night. My 4 picks hurt my teams's chances of winning" "I feel badly for our fans" etc etc. would be a start.

Doesnt matter that he's surounded by crap. He's the veteran, he's supposed to step up.

How can Durant step up when the stairs beneath him are broken? Why didn't Massoli & Matthews step up when Collaros was injured? They had twice the talent level around them that Durant has now. All they had to do was play within the system. Except for 1 game Massoli played brutal. Matthews didn't even last 3 games as a starter. Your team should have won a Grey Cup with or without Collaros. I'm not a Rider fan but I don't blame Durant for any of this. he can only do so much. The guy came back from a torn achilles. Durant gives them A CHANCE to win albeit not much.

Edited August 21, 20169 yr by iso_55

3 minutes ago, rebusrankin said:

Burris benched, Harris to start. Rick Campbell is no dummy.

The foreseeable future will show us just how dark Burris' inflated ego is and it's effect on the Redblacks. It's one of the reasons I didn't want to see him come to Winnipeg a few years ago. It'll be interesting to see how he handles being the backup role, will he graciously continue to contribute to his team, despite being the former leader now benched? Or will he throw a numerous hissy fits and cause dissent among the ranks?

I feel that his rant the other day won't be the last temper tantrum we'll see from him. Who's going to own the East? Right now it looks like the Ti-cats but who knows...

2 minutes ago, Eternal optimist said:

The foreseeable future will show us just how dark Burris' inflated ego is and it's effect on the Redblacks. It's one of the reasons I didn't want to see him come to Winnipeg a few years ago. It'll be interesting to see how he handles being the backup role, will he graciously continue to contribute to his team, despite being the former leader now benched? Or will he throw a numerous hissy fits and cause dissent among the ranks?

I feel that his rant the other day won't be the last temper tantrum we'll see from him. Who's going to own the East? Right now it looks like the Ti-cats but who knows...

I guess hank should have been worried after all. It's going to get ugly in Pissy Town... I mean By Town.

4 minutes ago, iso_55 said:

How can Durant step up when the stairs beneath him are broken? Why didn't Massoli & Matthews step up when Collaros was injured? They had twice the talent level around them that Durant has now. All they had to do was play within the system. Except for 1 game Massoli played brutal. Matthews didn't even last 3 games as a starter. Your team should have won a Grey Cup with or without Collaros. I'm not a Rider fan but I don't blame Durant for any of this. he can only do so much. The guy came back from a torn achilles. Durant gives them A CHANCE to win albeit not much.

Im not talking about play. Its taking on the responsibility of a leader, even if it is just token lip service, for a horrible season in general. Its his job

1 hour ago, Zontar said:

Im not talking about play. Its taking on the responsibility of a leader, even if it is just token lip service, for a horrible season in general. Its his job

You're saying he's not a leader? I don't get what you're point is here? Why should Durant throw himself on a sword to die for if no one else does, especially Jones? Yeah, he threw 4 picks. Stuff happens. Every qb throws interceptions as it just comes with the position when the ball is thrown.

What about that brutal Rider defense & stanky OL? Where are the rest of the players who said they played badly last night? What about the coaches? Will they admit they were outcoached? Will Jones & Murphy say they can't recruit? Did Jones take responsibility for the roster violations & fines by saying it was his fault? He was more pissed off he was caught than sorry. So, I see none of that. The Riders quit last night. Where are the apologies from players & coaches for that?

Why then, if it isn't imcumbent on the rest of the organization to "step up" & admit that their actions cost them the game is it incumbent on Durant to do so? I saw no temper tantrums from Durant after each of those picks. He didn't act like a Diva the way Burris did on TSN. The guy's a pro. He knows this team will be lucky to win another game or two this season.

Zontar, with all the problems the Riders have, Durant is the least of them. They look so much like the Bombers of 2013.  Worst Canadian talent in the league, barely enough Intl talent to be competitive. The Riders have so many huge holes to fill almost everywhere. A coach with absolutely no answers. Recruiting & the CFL draft for them this year has been terrible. It took the Bombers 3 seasons just to get where we are now. And who knows if even that is good enough. It's going to be a long, dark road back to respectability for the Riders in the times to come.

Edited August 21, 20169 yr by iso_55

1 hour ago, iso_55 said:

Sure. And peanuts grow in vineyards. The Argos had no intentions of trading Ray. I think the seeds for Harris leaving is after playing so well in 2015 he was benched when Ray came back which he didn't like. The Argos had until mid February to move Ray if they wanted to but chose to stand pat. Big mistake as Ray is virtually finished.

I wouldn't be ready to write Ray off just yet, nor the Argos. Their fan support is pathetic, but Ray can galvanize the Argos just as Collaros and Nichols have done. And as Durant has not.

7 minutes ago, tracker said:

I wouldn't be ready to write Ray off just yet, nor the Argos. Their fan support is pathetic, but Ray can galvanize the Argos just as Collaros and Nichols have done. And as Durant has not.

Or he can get injured again at 36. His best years are behind him.

Just now, iso_55 said:

Or he can get injured again at 36. His best years are behind him.

But he may not be ready for the boneyard for another year or two.

 

9 minutes ago, tracker said:

But he may not be ready for the boneyard for another year or two.

I just looked at Harris body of work last year & how he took charge & his age. He had potential to be extremely good whereas with Ray you know what you get. A guy who dinks & dunks. A guy who shows little or no emotion on the sidelines or field. A guy who just seems to mail it in at times with his lack of enthusiasm. Doesn't play great anymore yet he doesn't play that badly to sit. That is what Ricky Ray has become now. He was the safe choice performance wise but not necessarily the right one.  Job #1 this past off season should have been to sign Harris. The Argos didn't get it done.

The Riders 0 could put up 30 but with the way their D is playing, the D would give up 40... 

 

Not much your O can do when your D is truly that awful, it's actually somewhat surprising to me watching the Riders D... all you hear about is how Jones is some sort of Defensive Guru yet his D looks like total crap, can't tackle, can't do anything, they SUCK... is there anyone worth keeping there? Seriously... is there? If these guys got released tomorrow, how many would find new homes in the CFL? a handful of them? MAYBE?? 

 

The D is so bad in Riderville that it doesn't give the O a chance at all. The O is also pretty terrible and their special teams suck 2 but... man, that D is just.... awful.

 

Best word to describe the Riders? That team from top to bottom from D to O to special teams... they SUCK. They seriously SUCK. That is the worst team the CFL has seen in some time. 

 

I thought I read somewhere that the Riders are like 5 and 30 or something in their last 35 games? Something like that... If that's even close to being right.... yeah, that's not a very good football team and they seem to have gotten worse. 

Edited August 21, 20169 yr by Goalie

A post-Tamam regime. You just can't deny his long-standing management history. 

Made worse by Chris Jones

2009 anyone? 

So, what team is worse?The 2013 Blue Bombers or the 2016 Roughriders? The Riders at least have a qb. Remember ours? Max Hall & Boltus?

How can someone not get fired at this point. Even if it means nothing there has to be consequences. 

31 minutes ago, iso_55 said:

So, what team is worse?The 2013 Blue Bombers or the 2016 Roughriders? The Riders at least have a qb. Remember ours? Max Hall & Boltus?

Logically, the 2013 Bombers, until proven otherwise the Roughriders still have a little over half a season left. Although I doubt they'll do anything fantastic, they could theoretically scrounge a couple of wins later in the year, especially when other teams have playoff hopes fade away and they just play for pride.

5 hours ago, Mark H. said:

A post-Tamam regime. You just can't deny his long-standing management history. 

Made worse by Chris Jones

2009 anyone? 

Man at least the 2009 team was in the playoff race until the final week of the season. 

Although I do agree that the 2016 Riders are the biggest gong show the CFL has seen since that team.

4 hours ago, The Unknown Poster said:

How can someone not get fired at this point. Even if it means nothing there has to be consequences. 

Who are they going to fire?   It's a lack of quality players which is killing the team.   

11 hours ago, Blueandgold said:

Man at least the 2009 team was in the playoff race until the final week of the season. 

The Bomber would have had a home playoff game in 2009 if they won game 18.... completely different scenarios...

I love the riders current futility as much as the next guy... but Labour Day always makes me nervous... I've said it before, as bad a the Riders have looked this year... I'm not convinced we win LDC until the scoreboard says 0:00 with the bombers leading...

Not sure what's better the tweet or the Rider fans crying in response.