Okay, what a bizarre experience Saturday night’s game was against the Edmonton Eskimos. My brothers and I show up for the game early to give the Eskimo players a bit of a rough time from field level, then some maroon (claiming to be with the Rider organization, but we knew better) comes over and tells us that yelling is not permitted! WHAT THE HELL???? My brother replies, “I’m sorry, we didn’t get the memo, why can’t we yell.” The idiot responds by saying “Because you can’t”. My brother and I look at each other in bewilderment then I pipe in by asking him, “So, would it be alright if we yell in a half-an-hour, say during the game?” The moron was speechless. So my brother and I head for our seats and immediately after arriving there a “real” member of the Rider Organization shows up just below us and asks us to make some noise. Naturally my brother and I stand up and start bellowing, but some guy and his 5 year-old get the honour of moving to the 55 yard line……garbage. Oh well.
Then the game starts, and for a while it looks like it’s going to be another Hamilton Tiger-Cat-like cake walk for the Riders…..but wait. After going up by a score of 14-3, the Riders managed, with the help of the referees to find a way to lose the game. The score was 17-17 at the half, and we were feeling just a little uneasy. Then early in the third, Kerry Joseph goes down with a knee injury, looks pretty bad. And from then on, the Riders couldn’t buy a touchdown. French gets called for pass interference in the endzone to call back a TD then Dominguez can’t quite hold on to one in the exact same spot. Meanwhile, the Eskimos are permitted to pass the ball at will, and Ricky Ray has all day to throw, and run with the ball if need be. The second half was “Rocky” and frustrating to say the least.
Then came the final play of the game. With less than a minute remaining, the Eskimos go ahead by a score of 30-25. A game the Riders were supposed to win turns into disaster. The final play of the game has pretty summed up the Rider season thus far. Rocky is sacked with zeros on the clock, but wait…. a fumble! Riders recover, he gets up and pitches the ball to Butler, who then runs for his life realizing he can now throw the ball! So, he does, to Keith, who the laterals the ball to Murphy (I think) who then throws back across the field to Dominguez……this goes on for what seems like an eternity. Finally the Riders are brought down at the 10. Game over.
Is this how our season will end, excitement to the end, and fall just short to a worse team??? I sure as hell hope not!
The Riders must now face the Montreal Allouettes, who are seeking first in the East. The Riders must win to keep Edmonton from gaining the final play-off spot in the West. The Riders will visit Montreal, where they have never won a game since the return of the Allouettes, that trend is sure to continue. Butler will be likely to start against Montreal, and this will be his first real test as a starter and will prove if he can play with the big boys. Butler will play well, but the defense will have to come up big against the big play offense of Montreal. The Riders will have to score early and often just to stay in the game.
Your Thanksgiving Day Final score will be:
Allouettes: 34
Riders: 20
Thanks for Reading, and have a safe and happy Thanksgiving!
Under Miner
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