2013: Grey Cup

[Deerkeeper]

At one point last week in the 1st half Burris was 6-11 for 93 yards but we let them off the hook.

Yes, but Sask is not about to let him off so easily.

[ArgoRavi]

Well no disrespect to the Ti-Cats as they did deserve the Eastern Final victory but I do think the Argos would've been putting up a better fight!

This would have been a classic with the Argos in it. At worst, Ray and Durant would have gone toe-to-toe.

[ArgoRavi]

This is making me feel a bit better after the EF.....loved Henry being a spectator on that errant snap!!!! Go chase after the ball, don't just stand there....

Honestly, this is making me feel worse. I keep asking myself how we lost to these guys. Furthermore, as a CFL fan, I wanted to see a classic game and not a blowout at the half. The Argos would have provided a classic game. From what I am seeing of the Ticats so far, I am convinced that this team was the third best in the east this year. The Als, with their defence alone, would be giving the Riders all that they could handle if they were in this game.

[QBall]

I can't believe we lost to these guys!

[OV Argo]

I can't believe we lost to these guys!

The Riders have a very tough and vet D - the Argos do not; the Riders have a clue about a ground game and diversity on offence - the Argos do not.

I feared a total blow-out in this one due to a total mismatch on paper; hope the Ticats can comeback and make a game out of it 2nd half. BUT -when you face an offence with a big strong O-line and a dangerous RB and an inclination to run plenty, and you counter with a few 200 pound type linebackers and no real stud run-stopper there = good luck; and when you are an all-pass offence with pretty well zero run game and you face a very experienced and talented D-line with top notch pass rushers and some talented DBs = good luck again.

Kent still have some magic left? The Argos losing to these guys looks very bad. Regardless - i believe this Rider team would have easily handled any East representative this year - outside of the Als winning with huge play making on D or special teams.

[Deerkeeper]

Fifteen points is not insurmountable. It's not over yet.

[Deerkeeper]

Now it's over. Sheets for MVP.

[Argo57]

The Riders have a very tough and vet D - the Argos do not; the Riders have a clue about a ground game and diversity on offence - the Argos do not.

I feared a total blow-out in this one due to a total mismatch on paper; hope the Ticats can comeback and make a game out of it 2nd half. BUT -when you face an offence with a big strong O-line and a dangerous RB and an inclination to run plenty, and you counter with a few 200 pound type linebackers and no real stud run-stopper there = good luck; and when you are an all-pass offence with pretty well zero run game and you face a very experienced and talented D-line with top notch pass rushers and some talented DBs = good luck again.

Kent still have some magic left? The Argos losing to these guys looks very bad. Regardless - i believe this Rider team would have easily handled any East representative this year - outside of the Als winning with huge play making on D or special teams.

Well said OV!!!

[Deerkeeper]

Well, no Grey Cup parade in Hamilton this week. I wonder if they will have a Ballard Cup parade instead.

[ArgoRavi]

Something else that Hamilton lacked was Canadian depth. Their Canadian depth has been lacking for the last few years and reared its head when starting safety Courtney Stephen was unable to play today. Neil King may be a good prospect but he isn't ready for primetime yet. However, with the Ticats only able to start seven Canadians, they had no options but to start King.

I don't agree that the Riders would have beaten the Argos or Als easily but Hamilton matched up with them less well than Toronto or Montreal would. Oddly and unfortunately, the Ticats matched up well with the Argos. Montreal outplayed Hamilton during most of their games this year but the Ticats seemed to find a way to win those games.

[1argoholic]

Everything was geared for Regina and their Grey Cup love in. Very few fans from other teams like normal Grey Cups. Mark Cohon is Green and White with his nose all Brown. Sickening display from TSN covering everything about Sask with very limited stories about Hamilton. At one point Randorf said "oh there's some fans from Ottawa, I mean Ontario" when they showed Hamilton fans. WTF! This will do no good for the overall good of our league. Sask has been pumped up way too much by the league and they just won their forth friggin cup. I bet the pre game last year didn't pump Toronto and Ontario. Rider fans will be a real pain in the arse next year.

Worst possible finish to a season and one of the worst Grey Cups I've witnessed in my 51 years.

[OV Argo]

Something else that Hamilton lacked was Canadian depth. Their Canadian depth has been lacking for the last few years and reared its head when starting safety Courtney Stephen was unable to play today. Neil King may be a good prospect but he isn't ready for primetime yet. However, with the Ticats only able to start seven Canadians, they had no options but to start King.

I don't agree that the Riders would have beaten the Argos or Als easily but Hamilton matched up with them less well than Toronto or Montreal would. Oddly and unfortunately, the Ticats matched up well with the Argos. Montreal outplayed Hamilton during most of their games this year but the Ticats seemed to find a way to win those games.

Neil King is the least of the Ticat problems - he made a number of tackles today and was not at fault in pass-coverage or run-support - a very good future CFL safety (he & Stephen both) and King had some starting experience this season going in; OTOH - the Ticats DID have some other options with NIs - like playing a big run-stuffing MLB when facing a very good run game rather than playing the lightweight import LBs Kenty favored (Plesius - CIS star LB and a huge LB; or C-O Prime - another huge MLB and tackling machine in US college ball) - however Kenty would have no faith in these guys due to their birth certificates; Kent-boy could have also went to a vet 2x CFL 1000 yd, receiver like Stala over his boys (his college boy alma matter fave Tasker - glaring CFL inexperience for a big game, or hands of stone Grant - dropped a couple at least today), but again, imports favored there.

Nice try with the cliched lack of "NI talent" or depth excuse card play Ravi - but that IMO is totally laughable and the Ticats have better overall NI talent than the Argos IMO.

The Ticats were totally over-matched in this game - in every single position group; the reason they were representing the East in this game was because the rest of the East this year was gawd-awful in various departments and Kent and his crew found a way in the East play-offs.

OTOH - the Riders are a veteran talented crew and built to go to this GC - with lots of key acquisitions : Foley, Anderson, Chick back from the NFL, Geroy Simon, and dominant D & O lines.

[Tau Ceti]

Not exactly a classic game in terms of suspense but a thoroughly comprehensive victory. Congratulations to Saskatchewan, their franchise, and fans. At best, Regina is going to average a Grey Cup every ten years; the odds of this team winning in front of home fans rises to 50% about once in every 50 years so it's fair to call this is a historic result. And I really don't get the anti-Rider sentiment on this forum. It's petty and envious.

i believe this Rider team would have easily handled any East representative this year

Agreed. If anything I think the massive run game combined with competent air attack from Sask. shows how deficient our pass only offensive was last week.

[LLB997]

haha,, 1999 suck it pussycats

[Wobbler]

Nice try with the cliched [lack of NI depth] excuse card play Ravi - but that IMO is totally laughable and the Ticats have better overall NI talent than the Argos IMO.

I'm not familiar with Hamilton's NI backups. Would you mind elaborating on how they compare to ours? They must be dramatically superior if Ravi's comment was laughable!

[argos1873]

Everything was geared for Regina and their Grey Cup love in. Very few fans from other teams like normal Grey Cups. Mark Cohon is Green and White with his nose all Brown. Sickening display from TSN covering everything about Sask with very limited stories about Hamilton. At one point Randorf said "oh there's some fans from Ottawa, I mean Ontario" when they showed Hamilton fans. WTF! This will do no good for the overall good of our league. Sask has been pumped up way too much by the league and they just won their forth friggin cup. I bet the pre game last year didn't pump Toronto and Ontario. Rider fans will be a real pain in the arse next year.

Worst possible finish to a season and one of the worst Grey Cups I've witnessed in my 51 years.

Are you talking conspiracy theories like some said about Toronto last year? The game is played on the field, not in the front offices, give your rhetoric a break. It is what it is.

[ArgoRavi]

Neil King is the least of the Ticat problems - he made a number of tackles today and was not at fault in pass-coverage or run-support - a very good future CFL safety (he & Stephen both) and King had some starting experience this season going in; OTOH - the Ticats DID have some other options with NIs - like playing a big run-stuffing MLB when facing a very good run game rather than playing the lightweight import LBs Kenty favored (Plesius - CIS star LB and a huge LB; or C-O Prime - another huge MLB and tackling machine in US college ball) - however Kenty would have no faith in these guys due to their birth certificates; Kent-boy could have also went to a vet 2x CFL 1000 yd, receiver like Stala over his boys (his college boy alma matter fave Tasker - glaring CFL inexperience for a big game, or hands of stone Grant - dropped a couple at least today), but again, imports favored there.

Nice try with the cliched lack of "NI talent" or depth excuse card play Ravi - but that IMO is totally laughable and the Ticats have better overall NI talent than the Argos IMO.

Maybe you are right that the Ticats' braintrust doesn't know how to use Hamilton's non-import talent properly, OV, or maybe they just aren't up to snuff but the Ticats along with the Blue Bombers are two teams that have consistently had problems fielding more than seven non-import starters for some time now. Most (all?) other teams seem to be better able to do this, including the Argos, so I would say there is a problem somewhere with the Ticats in either their non-import talent or their utilization of such.

[ArgoRavi]

I asked on Twitter when was it that the Roughriders went from "everyone's second favourite team" to the most hated team in the league. I think that the turning point may have been the '04 manure incident but different people gave me different answers including the '97 Grey Cup and the '07 Grey Cup. One individual said that this has happened since the explosion of the Internet with Roughriders fans being particularly ubiquitous.

Regardless, Roughriders fans have to be feeling on top of the world tonight and their team was full value for their win on Sunday night. Normally, signing other teams' free agents isn't the route to success in the CFL but Brendan Taman identified the gaps in his team after least season and went about filling them. The best off-season move that he made though was bringing in George Cortez as his offensive co-ordinator. I can't wait to see what next year will bring.

By the way, welcome to the Ottawa RedBlacks who are now full-fledged members of the Canadian Football League and finally able to sign players as of ten minutes ago.

[VANRIDERFAN]

I asked on Twitter when was it that the Roughriders went from "everyone's second favourite team" to the most hated team in the league. I think that the turning point may have been the '04 manure incident but different people gave me different answers including the '97 Grey Cup and the '07 Grey Cup. One individual said that this has happened since the explosion of the Internet with Roughriders fans being particularly ubiquitous.

Regardless, Roughriders fans have to be feeling on top of the world tonight and their team was full value for their win on Sunday night. Normally, signing other teams' free agents isn't the route to success in the CFL but Brendan Taman identified the gaps in his team after least season and went about filling them. The best off-season move that he made though was bringing in George Cortez as his offensive co-ordinator. I can't wait to see what next year will bring.

By the way, welcome to the Ottawa RedBlacks who are now full-fledged members of the Canadian Football League and finally able to sign players as of ten minutes ago.

When we stopped being the lovable losers. Winning breeds envy, which leads to hatred. I used to hate the EE but now I just pity them.

[Wobbler]

Winning breeds envy, which leads to hatred.

In this case I think it is fanbase envy, not team-success envy. Living in Vancouver (#3 most livable city in the world according to the 2013 EUI rankings) and being a committed Riders fan (with their associated CFL fan base) puts you in a nice category. Enjoy!