Saskatchewan Roughriders

The 2007 Grey Cup Champion Saskatchewan Rough Riders seem to be in a bit of trouble going into the 2008 season.  

With the subtractions from their team overriding the additions many people have asked, "Can they repeat?"

Well, I think they should be worrying more about making the playoffs then attempting a repeat as the Grey Cup champs.

Let's start with some positives. They added some nice key players such as Quentin Griffin, Steve Morely, Glen January and Stephen Jyles on offence. On the defensive end, they also added Ronald Flemons and had Omarr Morgan returning to the green and white.

Although those seem like some nice additions, the losses are a lot more costly. Now I know they needed to free up some cap space, but I cannot see us doing anything this year.

We lost arguably our three best players: the league's Most Outstanding Player Kerry Joseph, along with Fred Perry and Reggie Hunt. Throw in Corey Holmes and our Coach of the Year, Kent Austin, and that is going to hurt the Riders this season!

Going into training camp and pre-season, the Riders starting quarterback is Marcus Crandell. His backup will be Drew Tate, Darian Durant or Stephen Jyles. There is also a chance it could be the Riders sixth-round pick, Teale Orban, but I highly doubt it.

Looking at the two best quarterbacks for every other team in the league, I would rather have any one of them as the Riders' starters with the exception of maybe Ryan Dinwiddie as our starter.

*Means former Riders.

B.C. Lions: Buck Pierce, Jarious Jackson

Edmonton Eskimos: Ricky Ray, Jason Maas

Calgary Stampeders: Henry Burris*, Dave Dickenson

Montreal Allouettes: Anthony Calvillo, Marcus Brady

Toronto Argonauts: Kerry Joseph*, Michael Bishop  

Hamilton Tiger-Cats: Casey Printers, Richie Williams

Winnipeg Blue Bombers: Kevin Glenn*, Ryan Dinwiddie

See what I mean? Any one of those players would be better than Marcus Crandell in my opinion. He is a good backup, but no longer starter material. Also, the three quarterbacks with stars beside their names are arguably the best three quarterbacks in the league.

Now I like Eric Tillman. I agreed with absolutely everything he did last off-season and regular season despite 90 percent of Rider fans disagreeing. He did a great job and hey, they won a Grey Cup. But I have absolutely no idea how it can get close to happening again.

My prediction, is that the only way they make the playoffs is if they beat out Hamilton and Montreal for the third spot in the east on a cross-over.

In the CFL, you will find passionate, die-hard fans who will do anything to cheer on their favourite team.

The craziest of them all, without a question, are those who love the Saskatchewan Roughriders.

The Riders fans, proudly supporting their only professional team, aren't afraid to do anything.

They travel from coast to coast. From BC to Montreal, look into the stands and you will always find a sea of green.

The Roughriders were the 2007 Grey Cup Champions, ending a drought of 18 years. The fans took over the city of Toronto, even holding their own parade. It's been said that the game would not have been sold out if Saskatchewan was not in the finals.

There is something about the team that just draws you in. if you're not even a football fan, being at a Roughrider game is more intense than an NHL game.

The enormous fan base extends from out of Saskatchewan. There are even people in Alberta, who have a choice of Edmonton or Calgary, but prefer the Riders.

The proof was shown last year with record merchandise sales. The Roughrider organization sold more than all other CFL teams combined and tripled.

This year, they have already set new recording, and the season hasn't even begun. The capacity at Mosaic Stadium (formerly Taylor Field) is 28,800. At this point, the season ticket sales stands at approximately 22,000!

That is not the only record shattered. Tickets for the Labour Day Classic, between Saskatchewan and the Winnipeg Blue Bombers, sold out in less than an hour, with only about 200 tickets for Blue Bomber fans.

They may add extra bleachers to fit 2000 more fans for that game, but don't be surprised if the Rider fans grab those up.

This looks to be one heck of a season, with pre-season games starting June 13. Can the Saskatchewan Roughriders repeat as Grey Cup champs? The fans sure seem to think so.

Can they do it? I sure hope so, let's break it down.

 Last year no one expected them to win it all. Rookie head coach, brand new GM, but yet they surprised everyone by winning the Grey Cup, Kerry Joseph winning MVP and Kent Austyn Coach of the Year. But now what do we do when our MVP is off to Toronto, and our Coach of the Year gone to Ole Miss?

 Now, I think is a fantastic GM, and I know the players he let go were old but, our MVP and two of our top defensive players in Hunt and Perry? Kinda Scary.

Now I trust Eric Tillman. Some of these things seem like bad decisions, but, people didnt agree with a lot of the decisions he made last year, and we ended up being grey cup champions. In the Kerry Joseph trade, we got a couple of linemen and a first round draft pick. Does this leave Marcus Crandell our starter? I hope not. We have an up and coming Darian Durant and Drew Tate, I sure hope they turn out well because Crandell has shown in the past he isnt starter materiel anymore.

We lost our star defensive lineman Fred Perry also through a trade. We traded Perry and a second rounder for Stephen Jyles and there second rounder. Gyles is a young athletic QB who was Edmonton's 3rd string last year. He played a few games after Edmontons first two QBs went down. He isnt of starting quarterback caliber...yet.

It also hurts losing Reggie Hunt to Montreal. But if TJ Stancil can stay healthy, our linebacking core shouldn't take to much of a drop off. Our defensive line might get exploited without Perry. But an up and coming John Chick who had a fantastic year last year can hopefully pick up the slack and be a star lineman.

Our secondary can only improve with a healthy Eddie Davis and a returning James Johnson along with the signing of Omarr Morgan. Morgan of course used to be a Rough Rider before signing with the Eskimoes before last season.

I have faith in Eric Tillman and Coach Miller but I can't help but be worried that we won't repeat as champs, or maybe even not make the playoffs.