The Headlines and front page of the Regina Leader-Post and Saskatoon Star-Phoenix tells you all you need to know about Sunday’s semi final victory by the pride of Saskatchewan.
Danny Barrett’s Roughriders once again overcame the odds and will be heading for a CFL Western Final match up with the BC Lions.
Taking charge of a second half of football built on the legs of Kenton Keith and the arm of Kerry Joseph, the Riders knocked the Stampeders off their game completely. Silencing two thirds of the thirty something thousand fans and letting the remaining 10,000 shower their neighours with giddy glee as the Riders dominated play for the final two halves of football.
Calgary once again stumbled on the way to where they were supposed to go. Henry Burris frustrated beyond his belief as passes were gobbled up by Rider defenders and Joffrey Reynolds left to bemoan a plan of attack that seemed to forget he was in the line up.
Last year it was a loss to their bitter rivals to the north that sent the Stamps packing early on in the playoff season, this year it’s those stubble jumping, gopher loving rubes of the flatland that have sent the Cowtown slickers to their winter homes early.
Saskatchewan which had more than its fair share of turmoil at mid season, looked as though they were a team possessed in the second half as they charged out of the dressing room and just took the game away from a Calgary team that by games end appeared shell shocked on the side lines.
In Calgary this morning, they now have something in common with their northern relations in Edmonton, a case of wonderment as to how things went so wrong, so fast. The post mortem in Southern Alberta will ask a number of questions about preparation for the game, a game plan that seemed to deviate from that which put them in the semi final in the first place and the inevitable question about whether Henry Burris will ever be the one to lead this team past a semi final match.
For Saskatchewan, the delicious irony of smiting the QB who spurned them a few years ago could only have been topped by the way this team pulled together to overcome the odds of success. For Barrett, a coach who is on the hot seat in the football mad province, the victory was particularly sweet. His team, which has always been a closed knit group, seemed even more unified than ever as they stood on the sidelines and saluted their traveling band on fanatics who made McMahon stadium sound like a suburb of Mosaic Stadium at Taylor Field.
For Barrett and the Riders there’s little time to savour the victory, it’s back to work and plans for a trip to Vancouver for a much anticipated game with the Lions. The Riders have been the victors twice in three regular season games the past year, and won’t be traveling to Vancouver in any awe of the Lions. Factor in the devotion of their fans, many of home have re-settled in BC and Sunday should be a wild day at the False Creek football emporium.
A victory in Vancouver on Sunday will set up a Saskatchewan travel agents dream weekend and a horror show for Winnipeg. Those crazy Rider fans may just invade their long time rivals hometown and make Winnipeg Rider friendly.
Only the Lions stand in the way the plans to avoid a similar fate already under way and with the Riders coming off such an emotional win, a betting fan wouldn’t necessarily make the Lions the favourite as the weekend final approaches!
Calgary once again stumbled on the way to where they were supposed to go. Henry Burris frustrated beyond his belief as passes were gobbled up by Rider defenders and Joffrey Reynolds left to bemoan a plan of attack that seemed to forget he was in the line up.
Last year it was a loss to their bitter rivals to the north that sent the Stamps packing early on in the playoff season, this year it’s those stubble jumping, gopher loving rubes of the flatland that have sent the Cowtown slickers to their winter homes early.
Saskatchewan which had more than its fair share of turmoil at mid season, looked as though they were a team possessed in the second half as they charged out of the dressing room and just took the game away from a Calgary team that by games end appeared shell shocked on the side lines.
In Calgary this morning, they now have something in common with their northern relations in Edmonton, a case of wonderment as to how things went so wrong, so fast. The post mortem in Southern Alberta will ask a number of questions about preparation for the game, a game plan that seemed to deviate from that which put them in the semi final in the first place and the inevitable question about whether Henry Burris will ever be the one to lead this team past a semi final match.
For Saskatchewan, the delicious irony of smiting the QB who spurned them a few years ago could only have been topped by the way this team pulled together to overcome the odds of success. For Barrett, a coach who is on the hot seat in the football mad province, the victory was particularly sweet. His team, which has always been a closed knit group, seemed even more unified than ever as they stood on the sidelines and saluted their traveling band on fanatics who made McMahon stadium sound like a suburb of Mosaic Stadium at Taylor Field.
For Barrett and the Riders there’s little time to savour the victory, it’s back to work and plans for a trip to Vancouver for a much anticipated game with the Lions. The Riders have been the victors twice in three regular season games the past year, and won’t be traveling to Vancouver in any awe of the Lions. Factor in the devotion of their fans, many of home have re-settled in BC and Sunday should be a wild day at the False Creek football emporium.
A victory in Vancouver on Sunday will set up a Saskatchewan travel agents dream weekend and a horror show for Winnipeg. Those crazy Rider fans may just invade their long time rivals hometown and make Winnipeg Rider friendly.
Only the Lions stand in the way the plans to avoid a similar fate already under way and with the Riders coming off such an emotional win, a betting fan wouldn’t necessarily make the Lions the favourite as the weekend final approaches!
The above post first appeared on my Twelve Men on the Field blog, for more items on the CFL check it out.
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