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That touchdown catch by Eric Rodgers, that was the moment when the Saskatchewan season officially became sad for me. I’ll admit, early on in the season it was kind of funny watching the Roughriders lose. Not because I have anything against the team, trust me I don’t. As I have written in the past, it always warms the cockles of my heart to see a Roughriders jersey in some foreign land. I’m going to be in France in late September and I’ve set the OVER/UNDER for Dressler jerseys at 4.5 and I’m leaning towards the OVER.
Now this is going to sound evil, BUT it is meant as a compliment: There is something entertaining knowing that a super passionate fan base must be going nuts over its team. Come on; admit it — we all have a bit of sports schadenfreude in us. Let me put this in hockey terms for a moment: No NHL fan cares if the Florida Panthers are tanking, but be honest most of Canada, you take a wee bit of pleasure if Montreal starts out 2-12. Regina, think of it as a compliment to your level of commitment you collectively posses for your team. If the rest of the nation thought you were indifferent about the 0-8 record than we wouldn’t take some sort of perverse pleasure in
watching your organization put up a tonne of points, get out to big leads only to inexplicably lose in the end. I’ll admit your season, beyond watching both Darian Durant and Kevin Glenn go down with injuries, has been rather fascinating for the first nine weeks of it.
But that all changed with that Rogers Hail Mary touchdown catch at the end of the first half of the team’s eventual 34-31 loss to Calgary. Actually, the shift in how I felt about Saskatchewan occurred somewhere late in the Riders’ Week 6 30-5 drubbing at the hands of Edmonton. I found myself starting to root for Saskatchewan to win. Until then, you always had the feeling that the Roughriders could turn it around when you took into consideration that all their defeats were by single digits and the team possessed enough firepower to go on a hot streak. All you had to do was remind yourself that the Montreal Alouettes were 1-7 to start the 2014 season and ended up winning a playoff game.
But that sort of optimism started to erode after Glenn was knocked out by the Tiger-Cats, got even worse after that Eskimos loss and all traces of optimism were wiped out when Rogers somehow through a mass of humanity came down with that prayer of a pass by Bo Levi Mitchell. Of course it was the entire sequence of plays, not just the touchdown that typifies the dreadful year it’s been in Regina. Let’s go back and look at the three play sequence that turned a one point game into a nightmare for Saskatchewan.
Play One: The Field Goal Attempt
I have stayed away from the “fire Corey Chamblin” conversation from the start. There are more than enough people calling for his head, I didn’t really feel the need to weigh in. But why attempt a 65-yard field goal with 15 seconds left in the first half of a one point game? Especially with Tim Brown, the league’s number two man for combined yards waiting at the goal line? This play had disaster written all over it the moment the ball left Ray “This was my first ever field goal attempt in the CFL” Early’s foot. Chamblin may set a CFL record for most articles written about him involving the term “hot seat”.
Play Two: The Penalty
So as expected Early’s kick didn’t have enough power and Brown easily made his was to the 40 yard line when the Clothesline Heard Around Canada occurred as Randy Richards did his best Hacksaw Jim Duggan impersonation when he took down Brown on what had to be the easiest penalty for any CFL official to call in 2015. You could see Micah Johnson immediately give the arms outstretched “what the hell did you just do????” move. I didn’t know much about Richards but he must be a hell of an athlete. When I first saw the hit I assumed it was delivered by a linebacker, NOT a right tackle. Richards is in first season in the league and I look forward to seeing what other WWE finishing moves he tries in the future. So instead of simply punting the ball, pinning the Stampeders deep and going into the half down by a single point, Saskatchewan gave Mitchell and the Stampeders one more play 46 yards from the end zone thanks to a misguided field goal attempt and an attempted decapitation.
Play Three: The Touchdown
The lasting image is Rogers on the ground surrounded by four Roughrider defensive backs, and if that isn’t the perfect tableau for Saskatchewan’s 2015 season than I don’t know what is. Three guys had a chance to knock the ball down but instead it’s the other team that scores. All season Saskatchewan has been a play or two from winning and every time something went wrong. Calgary would go for two on the next play, naturally would convert and suddenly 10-9 has morphed into 18-9. There is a reason why Saskatchewan hasn’t won a game since Donald Trump was merely seen as an ego maniacal out of touch Billionaire.
WATCH: Rogers beats the Riders for the Hail Mary
