A tornado has struck the trailer park.
And like with any natural disaster, it鈥檚 going to take weeks and weeks to clean up.
The 2015 Saskatchewan Roughriders鈥� regular season began in the worst possible fashion Saturday night as quarterback Darian Durant left the lid-lifting game just before halftime on a cart. Durant鈥檚 Riders were trailing the visiting Winnipeg Blue Bombers 15-14 at the time.
With back-up pivot Kevin Glenn coming in for Durant for the second half, Saskatchewan flirted with the lead. The game was tied 23-23 going into the fourth quarter and Saskatchewan even led by a field goal with 10 minutes to go.
However at the same time Durant was being assessed by the club鈥檚 doctors, Bomber quarterback Drew Willy was impressively leading his team to a startling upset victory.
When the clock struck 0:00, the Blue Bombers were on top 26-23. And the bad news was just beginning.
Rider head coach Corey Chamblin told a packed post game news conference that they鈥檇 have an official assessment of Durant鈥檚 status later Saturday night and that the team would inform the world of the news via a news conference Monday morning.
Minutes after the presser was adjourned, Chamblin was handed the fateful news. Durant, the Face of the Franchise, had suffered a ruptured left Achilles tendon and his 2015 season was over. It had lasted less than 30 minutes. Chamblin even asked if they could re-assemble the media, but by then it was too late.
And with that, the entire Rider Nation was sent reeling.
Assuredly the Roughriders never felt they鈥檇 have to cash in on the insurance policy that is Kevin Glenn this soon. They鈥檇 stated publicly that they鈥檇 hoped Glenn wouldn鈥檛 have to be used, except sparingly, at all this year. And the 36-year old quarterback was fine with that.
Now, it鈥檚 Kevin Glenn鈥檚 team.
The 2014 season went down the tubes in mid-September when Durant suffered that season-ending right elbow injury in Winnipeg鈥檚 Banjo Bowl. Now, many are writing the 2015 season off as well.
Season ticket holders were offering up their seats on social media for the balance of the season before midnight even struck on Saturday.
But it鈥檚 far, far too soon for that. As stated at the beginning of this column, the damage is still being assessed. And it extends well beyond Durant.
鈥淪hea Emry was down, Nic Demski was down, Keenan MacDougall was down, and Marshay Green,鈥� Chamblin huffed at the news conference, referring to their rash of injured starters. 鈥淗ell, everybody but me almost. That was tough. The toughest part is they worked their tails off all camp to get in shape and then a bug bites us all at one time. There's no amount of prep you can do for that.鈥�
I鈥檓 not kidding. It was literally like a tornado blasted that locker room. The post game quotes were grief-stricken.
鈥淚t sucks. For real,鈥� groaned defensive end Alex Hall. 鈥淚t just really sucks. We didn't execute. A lot of fundamental mistakes. Winnipeg did a good job capitalizing on our mistakes and doing what they're supposed to do.鈥�
Sophomore receiver/returner Ryan Smith was equally stunned, moments after admirably filling in for injured veteran Weston Dressler. He was quick to look to the immediate future with Kevin Glenn at the helm.
鈥淎nytime you see a player like (Durant) go out, I kind of lost my breath,鈥� Smith admitted on CKRM鈥檚 postgame show. 鈥淵ou gotta bounce back. We rallied around K.G. and he's been a great player for a long time. We're excited to play for and with him.鈥�
When Durant went down last year, the whole world could see the team sagged over its final nine games. However the Riders鈥� brain trust felt they adequately made steps in the off-season to ensure that wouldn鈥檛 happen again. Time will tell.
But Durant can鈥檛 tackle, nor can Glenn. And the Riders鈥� shoddy defensive play was as much, or more, of a culprit in Week 1 than any injury to their starting quarterback.
鈥淚t was poor tackling,鈥� Chamblin admitted. 鈥淲e're a better tackling team, or we will be, than we were tonight. The offense had their trials but they had their successes, too. Special teams had some troubles. It was 30-26 but we still had a chance. If we can correct those things, we'll be back in the swing of it.鈥�
Again, the damage is still being assessed. And it鈥檚 major. In fact it鈥檚 the most devastating set of circumstances to happen to this franchise since the 2009 Grey Cup and the infamous 13th Man incident.
Who in the world saw this coming?
A natural disaster indeed.
(Rod Pedersen is the Voice of the Roughriders on the CKRM Rider Radio Network)
