A Rider fan named 鈥淛enny鈥� came up with an interesting, yet simple question regarding Saskatchewan鈥檚 30-17 loss to the Toronto Argonauts in Thursday鈥檚 last-ever season-opening game at the old Mosaic Stadium.
鈥淚n one word, what did you think of the game?鈥� she quizzed me on Twitter @rodpedersen Friday.
I can鈥檛 even remember what my initial response was 鈥� and maybe I should鈥檝e gone with that 鈥� but after about 10 seconds of thought, I settled on the term 鈥渄isappointing.鈥�
The Online Dictionary鈥檚 definition of disappointing is: 鈥渇ailing to fulfill someone's hopes or expectations.鈥�
Yeah, that about covers it.
My expectation was that the Saskatchewan Roughriders 鈥� after six months of ballyhooed hype with the sweeping new Chris Jones regime 鈥� would storm their home field and eke out a close victory over Ricky Ray and the Toronto Argonauts.
Instead, the Roughriders shot themselves in the foot just enough times to come away with a double-digit loss.
I posed Jenny鈥檚 question to listeners of our Canada Day edition of the SportsCage on 620 CKRM and we got a wide variety of responses. They included the words 鈥渆ncouraging,鈥� 鈥渙ptimistic,鈥� 鈥減atience鈥� and 鈥渄etermined.鈥� However the term that was used the most by the Rider Nation was 鈥渆xpected.鈥�
That one was a surprise, to me anyway. I never expected the Saskatchewan Roughriders would lose that game, nor did long-time Rider player and management-type Jeremy O鈥橠ay, who joined us on the radio and answered my 鈥渙ne word鈥� query.
鈥淒isappointing,鈥� offered O'Day, mirroring my mindset. 鈥淚t鈥檚 always disappointing when you lose, especially when it鈥檚 your home-opener. You want to get off to a good start and unfortunately we were unable to make enough plays and avoid the mistakes you need to to win a game.
鈥淎s most of the games are, they come down to three or four plays that decide them and that鈥檚 what happened to us.鈥�
Those three plays specifically? A 57-yard punt return by Toronto鈥檚 Larry Taylor to the Rider five-yard line on only the game鈥檚 fourth play, A 56-yard touchdown reception by Toronto鈥檚 Vidal Hazelton on just their second series putting the Argos up 14-0 and a 27-yard 鈥渟coop and score鈥� by Toronto safety Matt Black after a fumble by back-up Rider quarterback Bryant Moniz, which put the Argos up 21-7 late in the second quarter.
That鈥檚 it. Three plays! And it all came in the home debut of an almost entirely new roster and completely new coaching staff. Perhaps that鈥檚 why so many in the Rider Nation expected this team to fall in their Week 1 game. It was just too soon to expect perfection given all the moving parts.
In truth, I was mildly shocked at how positive everyone has been beginning with the post-game call-in analysts on CKRM Radio Thursday night followed by all of the fans I鈥檝e spoken with in the days since the game.
Rome wasn鈥檛 built in a day. Whatever that means.
However I鈥檝e got this nagging feeling of what last year鈥檚 braintrust (Taman/Chamblin or O鈥橠ay/Dyce) would鈥檝e been subjected to had they lost a game by that same sliver of three plays. They鈥檇 be rioting in the streets around here and calling for heads to roll!
But not one year later. And that鈥檚 because, apparently, Rider Priders are willing to allow Chris Jones the time to bring his plan together. Some are even saying it鈥檒l take six or nine games for this symphony to be conducted perfectly, however I fear this club could be out of the running if it takes that long.
Will they be in tune enough by this Friday when they visit the Grey Cup-champion Eskimos in the first real return of Chris Jones to Commonwealth Stadium? It's doubtful.
And for that reason, I'm taking the Esks in our pick pool.
And finally, as they鈥檙e building this Roughriders team over the summer, they鈥檙e going to have to do it without the services of defensive stalwart Shawn Lemon who was granted his trade request over the weekend. The Akron product and six-year CFL veteran was shipped to the Argos on Saturday for quarterback Mitchell Gale and offensive lineman Matt Sewell.
Apparently Lemon was upset over his playing time and the fact he got only 10 plays in Thursday's game compared with his defensive line counterparts Jonathan Newsome (35), Justin Capicciotti (32) and A.C. Leonard (30).
Are the rats fleeing the ship? Hardly. However it鈥檚 abundantly clear that Chris Jones is a 鈥渕y way or the highway鈥� kind of guy and if you鈥檙e not on board, you鈥檙e welcome to get off at anytime.
So Shawn Lemon did.
Who鈥檚 next?
