Well that loss stung last night. Not happy with the decision to kick the FG but that can be discussed elsewhere  All in all there was a lot of improvement this year over last year and looking like they are trending upwards. If Walters can pull off another great draft and some more key FAs this offseason I like our chances going into 2017. Who is on the FA watch list and what areas are we in desperate need of fixing?

17 hours ago, Floyd said:

http://3downnation.com/2017/05/23/ricky-foley-drawing-interest-several-teams/

Ricky Foley 'closing' in on a team... which I would assume means keeping his phone charged and his chakras aligned.

Still think he'd be great rotation with Okpo - Osh was on coaching staff while Foley was on Argos so he would know if he actually is locker room poison or not...

...or maybe this is the reason why we havent tried to land him yet?

Just now, SPuDS said:

...or maybe this is the reason why we havent tried to land him yet?

Correct, sir!  That would be the rest of that sentence...!!!

Only sure upside to signing Ricky Foley...... would be watching people's heads explode on RF.

1 minute ago, Floyd said:

Correct, sir!  That would be the rest of that sentence...!!!

yay, seal applause!  I am so smart.  S-M-R-T!

 

Ah, there's my seal of approval.

Ran off last night.

3 minutes ago, mbrg said:

Ah, there's my seal of approval.

Ran off last night.

Good one.

We have sealed the deal, here....

20 minutes ago, do or die said:

Only sure upside to signing Ricky Foley...... would be watching people's heads explode on RF.

Note to moderators:     If this actually happened......watch out for an entity known as A51

A new theory I've just learned about from RF's is that all the picks are actually in fact signed but Jones is just trolling the "chicken littles".

 

Quality entertainment boys, must read.

Jones is running a version of the "deep state" over there......or playing some kind of 3-dimensional chess, or something.   All will be revealed, at the appropriate time......or so the story goes.

1 minute ago, do or die said:

Jones is running a version of the "deep state" over there......or playing some kind of 3-dimensional chess, or something.   All will be revealed, at the appropriate time......or so the story goes.

Zero dark thirty - Jonestown activated.

it really is disturbing how deeply the love for the riders goes over there.. I mean I get it.  but if everyone is holding a blue pen and calling it blue... and Jones said "naw its red.." we would have a legion of rider fans adamantly insisting it was a red pen. 

 

I know I'm known to be an optimistic sort and hold our coaches in high esteem BUT I do realize when its time to start calling a spade a spade.   over there tho, they will continue to strum the banjo as Saskabush burns down around them... so very... cult-like.

1 hour ago, do or die said:

Only sure upside to signing Ricky Foley...... would be watching people's heads explode on RF.

I don't see that happening. I'm a big fan of Foley but wouldn't be mad if anyone signed him. His best years are in the rear view mirror. I hope he gets a chance t keep playing.

15 minutes ago, SPuDS said:

it really is disturbing how deeply the love for the riders goes over there.. I mean I get it.  but if everyone is holding a blue pen and calling it blue... and Jones said "naw its red.." we would have a legion of rider fans adamantly insisting it was a red pen. 

 

I know I'm known to be an optimistic sort and hold our coaches in high esteem BUT I do realize when its time to start calling a spade a spade.   over there tho, they will continue to strum the banjo as Saskabush burns down around them... so very... cult-like.

It more or less is a cult. Its the only thing we have, the Riders mean everything here. Most of my life it has been a bit of a doomsday cult but a cult nonetheless.  Some people defend Jones because they just want to believe he isn't a idiot leading us off a cliff. Maybe he is and maybe he isn't. The proof will be on the field. Personally, I better see some wins this year or his ass gets fired. No reason to bring him back next year unless he has proven the team is headed in the right direction. Better be at least 8 wins this or bye bye

Just now, Ripper said:

It more or less is a cult. Its the only thing we have, the Riders mean everything here. Most of my life it has been a bit of a doomsday cult but a cult nonetheless.  Some people defend Jones because they just want to believe he isn't a idiot leading us off a cliff. Maybe he is and maybe he isn't. The proof will be on the field. Personally, I better see some wins this year or his ass gets fired. No reason to bring him back next year unless he has proven the team is headed in the right direction. Better be at least 8 wins this or bye bye

No different than anywhere else in sports (among the diehards). Lots of people loved Joe Mack, until they hated him, me included.

8 wins? That's going to be difficult. I wonder what will happen if the season starts poorly but he turns it around in the second half? If Jones gets to 6 or 7 wins but most of those come in September (after the Banjo Bowl) and October, I wonder if that's enough?

Everything will revolve around how well the QB plays (versus how well Durant plays).

19 minutes ago, JCon said:

No different than anywhere else in sports (among the diehards). Lots of people loved Joe Mack, until they hated him, me included.

8 wins? That's going to be difficult. I wonder what will happen if the season starts poorly but he turns it around in the second half? If Jones gets to 6 or 7 wins but most of those come in September (after the Banjo Bowl) and October, I wonder if that's enough?

Everything will revolve around how well the QB plays (versus how well Durant plays).

6 or 7 isn't enough for me. This is the CFL, doesn't take forever to rebuild.  Win or hit the road. Many questionable and down right stupid decisions have been made in his short tenure here, that makes the leash even shorter in my eyes. The fans will want his head on the block if we come out 1-5. Problem is the Riders backed themselves in the corner by bringing in Jones's staff with him. That I was not in favor of at all. That may lead to jones getting the entire season no matter how bad we are, too hard to replace him. Personally I hope we are a lot better and in the hunt and all this is water under the bridge.

Edited May 24, 20178 yr by Ripper

5 minutes ago, JCon said:

No different than anywhere else in sports (among the diehards). Lots of people loved Joe Mack, until they hated him, me included.

8 wins? That's going to be difficult. I wonder what will happen if the season starts poorly but he turns it around in the second half? If Jones gets to 6 or 7 wins but most of those come in September (after the Banjo Bowl) and October, I wonder if that's enough?

Everything will revolve around how well the QB plays (versus how well Durant plays).

I dunno man..  Im a die hard fan of the blue and love the Jets.. Id not go to nearly the lengths that ive seen from rider fans tho to follow the agenda so to speak.  I'm all for full blown fanboyness but at the same time, reality seems to be something that falls off the wayside over there..

 

*shrug*

 

 

I also get that riders is all saskatchewan has but really, I could almost see Jones pulling the old "we are bigger then god" like the beatles did and 97% of the rider fan base would be nodding in agreement..

8 minutes ago, SPuDS said:

I dunno man..  Im a die hard fan of the blue and love the Jets.. Id not go to nearly the lengths that ive seen from rider fans tho to follow the agenda so to speak.  I'm all for full blown fanboyness but at the same time, reality seems to be something that falls off the wayside over there..

 

*shrug*

 

 

I also get that riders is all saskatchewan has but really, I could almost see Jones pulling the old "we are bigger then god" like the beatles did and 97% of the rider fan base would be nodding in agreement..

I seem to recall you going to the ends of the earth to defend Mike Kelly during his tenure, when a growing number of us were calling for his head throughout that season....

Sounds like Murphy is sticking to his guns and will continue to play the Riders version of "hardball" despite the problems they encountered negotiating the contract with St. John last year.

 

"It’s well known what we decided to do last year and take a very different stance with our draft pick (St. John) and what we going to pay and how we were going to structure it. I think that taking that approach again with Cameron Judge … and Dariusz Bladek who may or may not have felt like he was going to get drafted a little bit higher than where he ended up with. I think the offers to those guys are more than fair in terms of the market value…. If they like those offers, they’ll be in camp the first day. If for some reason they don’t feel it’s something they want to commit to or that they’re comfortable with committing to yet, well then the other 75 guys plus the draft picks that have signed will be there, and much like Josiah St. John, those guys (Judge and Bladek) will make their way to Saskatoon when both sides feel it’s best for them to make a deal. So the stress isn’t on us to get something done…. We’re going off of the figures and the numbers that we utilized last year, what worked for us to get our deals done…. The important thing to remember is we are now closer to a new CBA being negotiated than to an old one. And if you continue to pile on to these rookie contracts that have been done in the past three to five years, we’re going to get to a stopping point where you’re having to cut veteran Canadians or cut your mid-level American players in order to afford signing draft picks who have yet to prove themselves in any way, shape, or form. And that is an area that is a huge concern. "

28 minutes ago, Throw Long Bannatyne said:

Sounds like Murphy is sticking to his guns and will continue to play the Riders version of "hardball" despite the problems they encountered negotiating the contract with St. John last year.

 

"It’s well known what we decided to do last year and take a very different stance with our draft pick (St. John) and what we going to pay and how we were going to structure it. I think that taking that approach again with Cameron Judge … and Dariusz Bladek who may or may not have felt like he was going to get drafted a little bit higher than where he ended up with. I think the offers to those guys are more than fair in terms of the market value…. If they like those offers, they’ll be in camp the first day. If for some reason they don’t feel it’s something they want to commit to or that they’re comfortable with committing to yet, well then the other 75 guys plus the draft picks that have signed will be there, and much like Josiah St. John, those guys (Judge and Bladek) will make their way to Saskatoon when both sides feel it’s best for them to make a deal. So the stress isn’t on us to get something done…. We’re going off of the figures and the numbers that we utilized last year, what worked for us to get our deals done…. The important thing to remember is we are now closer to a new CBA being negotiated than to an old one. And if you continue to pile on to these rookie contracts that have been done in the past three to five years, we’re going to get to a stopping point where you’re having to cut veteran Canadians or cut your mid-level American players in order to afford signing draft picks who have yet to prove themselves in any way, shape, or form. And that is an area that is a huge concern. "

Trade him our 2019 and 2020 2nd round picks for Judge and Bladek... market will have reset by then, new CBA and all that

1 hour ago, JCon said:

No different than anywhere else in sports (among the diehards). Lots of people loved Joe Mack, until they hated him, me included.

I dunno... Greenies seem like a wholly different breed compared to other CFL fanbases. Passionate is a great trait to have, but not when it journeys into irrationality. Chris Jones can do little to no wrong according to many in the rectangle province. Being a diehard doesn't have to mean being delusional.

Joe Mack received a ton of criticism during his tenure here, and rightfully so. Of course it intensified after he was canned - that's the norm for most firings in sports. He was brought in to fix a franchise but didn't while refusing to admit his errors. It's not too different from Jonestown and that sort of attitude eventually wears thin, especially when the losses pile up and nothing improves.

47 minutes ago, Noeller said:

I seem to recall you going to the ends of the earth to defend Mike Kelly during his tenure, when a growing number of us were calling for his head throughout that season....

Like I said, Im an optimist BUT i can see when I've made mistakes.  even I was saying it was time for him to move on towards the end.   I still contend Kelly was in a really shitty situation and that he could have made it work but it was the best move at the time.

As much as I heap scorn on the Priders, I still have friends in Sask. and almost all are horrified at the goings-on in Regina. I thought that Mike Kelly would have set the CFL record for earning mockery and humiliating fans, but this is a whole different level of stupidity and arrogance. When the fans in Sask have had enough, the treatment a certain kicker received in Regina will seem like a warm hug by comparison.

16 minutes ago, SPuDS said:

Like I said, Im an optimist BUT i can see when I've made mistakes.  even I was saying it was time for him to move on towards the end.   I still contend Kelly was in a really shitty situation and that he could have made it work but it was the best move at the time.

There is not enough Shinola in the world to polish that turd.

2 hours ago, Noeller said:

I seem to recall you going to the ends of the earth to defend Mike Kelly during his tenure, when a growing number of us were calling for his head throughout that season....

I also recall Mike Kelly's apparent trainwreck of a team finishing 1 win short of hosting a playoff game. It was a bad season, no doubt about it... but despite everything we were in the hunt til the end. I can hardly fault SPuDS for remaining optimistic throughout that nightmare.

I was pretty boastful about our odds back then, too. Sask fans be warned, you can be blind to what's right in front of your face... I've been there myself.