Rod Pedersen
CFL.ca
If there’s one thing the bizarre events of this week in Riderville prove, it’s that Roughrider G.M. Eric Tillman doesn’t like to lose.
Nor does his head coach Ken Miller.
So when the football club stumbled to a 27-10 loss in its Week 9 game at Edmonton on Thursday, you had to know changes were coming. But everyone was caught off-guard when the team announced two days after the game that it had acquired quarterback Michael Bishop from Toronto for a conditional draft pick in the 2011 CFL draft. It marked the end of veteran pivot Marcus Crandell’s time with the Green and White, and plunged the team into a new era.
As the team prepares for Labour Day Classic XLII this Sunday at Mosaic Stadium against the visiting Winnipeg Blue Bombers, it sits at a crossroads; a loss would send them into a tailspin with a three-game losing streak while a win could signal this is now Michael Bishop’s team and blue prairie skies may be ahead.
“Look, we’ve lost two straight games,” Tillman hissed at practice this week. “Every player on this team needs to look in the mirror and ask themselves what they did to contribute to this. This is a production-based business and when you’ve only scored three offensive touchdowns in ten quarters, there’s an accountability there. There’s some people on the field today that need to look in the mirror.”
The players had barely gotten a chance to look in the mirror as they were still grieving over the loss of the popular Crandell, who was asked on Sunday to go home to await a trade. Several days later, he’s still waiting.
“In terms of the players’ reaction, hey, they’re human,”
Tillman continued. “Players are people who wear uniforms and they all have great affection for Marcus Crandell. We understand that and there’s going to be emotions that come with that.”
But the team must move on. Michael Bishop arrived in Regina Sunday night and practiced with the Riders for the first time on Monday, wearing #11. He looked sharp running the offense, adept at rolling out of the pocket, and his bullet-firing arm was clearly evident.
“It felt good to get out there and take some reps with the first team,” Bishop said after his first workout. “I’m just trying to get familiar with it but the first day went pretty smooth. I need my new teammates to get familiar with me and get the ball rolling.”
By Wednesday, Bishop had changed his number to 17 after talking teammate Tad Kornegay out of the jersey. Also that day, Ken Miller annointed Bishop the starter for Sunday’s
Labour Day Classic 42 at Mosaic Stadium. That
announcement did not come as a surprise to the Blue Bombers.
“I think it could be a rather seemless fit for Michael Bishop to integrate into what they’re doing over there,”
Blue Bombers coach Doug Berry told CJOB radio in Winnipeg on Monday night. “From the first time I heard the rumour that he may be going there, I felt he’ll be playing this weekend.”
“I think he’s going to know the system. Now it’s just a matter of plugging him in and giving him a week’s worth of reps. If you’re going to make a commitment to him, why wait? You might as well play him now.”
Eric Tillman insisted this move was not made to shake up his football club. It was simply made to upgrade the quarterback position, at the coach’s request. However a message has clearly been sent within the Rider locker room.
“That’s not why Mike Bishop was brought in, for a wake-up call,” observed Rider lineman Gene Makowsky. “Management thought he might give us a better chance in the future to win games. But no one can deny it’s a bit of a wake-up call. It gives you a greater sense of urgency, especially for the younger guys. I’ve been around awhile and have seen this sort of thing happen before but you can only focus on what you can control.”
There should be considerable guilt within that locker room for the demise of Crandell. Although he had far from his best showing last week against the Eskimos, he was victimized by several dropped passes by his receivers.
Those ball-catchers are the replacements for injured starters Andy Fantuz, D.J. Flick and Matt Dominguez and they didn’t help Crandell’s cause.
“Guys are expected to step in but those big-time players are there for a reason,” explained Makowsky. “They’re the best receivers in the league and when they’re gone, at some point you’re going to have a drop off. It’s unfortunate because those three injured receivers made things happen for us. Sometimes you could just throw the ball up and Matt would make a play. We don’t have that now.”
Will the presence of Michael Bishop be the cure that ails this struggling Saskatchewan offense?
Time will tell, but we’ll find out soon.
Rod Pedersen is the Voice of the Roughriders and Saskatchewan correspondent on The Score Sports Network. Check out his award-winning blog at www.rodpedersen.com.
