Saskatchewan Roughriders - Page 2

Cyro · #21 Posted **Nov 6, 2015, 8:09 PM**

^ I stand corrected x4..

GC less in about 25 years?..1990...Damn, I could still work on my car without needing to put it on a scope and have it hooked up to a computer...

ahh. maybe next year....

wacko · #22 Posted **Nov 6, 2015, 8:33 PM**

Well, if Edmonton can go from worst to first in only two years, then why not the Riders? (Or the Bombers... but let's not talk about that. We're all Rider fans in here, right?

)

I'm a Rider season-ticket holder, but I'm actually not sure how long I've been one. Several years at least.

HomeInMyShoes · #23 Posted **Nov 6, 2015, 8:55 PM**

^Because it is Edmonton and not Saskatchewan.

Looking at our history since the advent of the CFL in 1958, we have never gone worst to first in one or two years. NEVER. While statistics says it could always happen, I believe that is in some sort of alternate universe where Al Ford and Harold Ballard are not in the running for worst owners ever in Canadian sports history.

Going back to 1910, it is still never.

Our history is a large part of what it means to be a Rider fan and that tempers my expectations that we are still going to suck when the new stadium opens.

Nathan · #24 Posted **Nov 6, 2015, 9:04 PM**

Quote:

Originally Posted by HomeInMyShoes

^Because it is Edmonton and not Saskatchewan.

Looking at our history since the advent of the CFL in 1958, we have never gone worst to first in one or two years. NEVER. While statistics says it could always happen, I believe that is in some sort of alternate universe where Al Ford and Harold Ballard are not in the running for worst owners ever in Canadian sports history.

Going back to 1910, it is still never.

Our history is a large part of what it means to be a Rider fan and that tempers my expectations that we are still going to suck when the new stadium opens.

Well Ford was never an owner

We were also very poor for most of our existence compared to the other teams. Now with the salary cap, it isn't as far out of sight as it once was... Though with the Riders now being the richest team, the capping works against us

That said, we went from dismal in 2011, to pretty good in 2012, and winning a Grey Cup in 2013... Then started 2014 8-2 or something like that until Durant went down. Maybe not worst to first in the standings... But worst to first in terms of being the champion.

The new stadium/player facilities could help the Riders "sweeten the pot" when trying to attract some new talent though; the Riders are certainly going for first class in that regard (going above the $15 mill in leaseholder improvements if I recall some comments in the Stadium thread correctly).

Crisis · #25 Posted **Nov 6, 2015, 9:21 PM**

There is a whole generation of Rider fans like me who grew up knowing nothing but heartbreak.

- My first memory of a Grey Cup was having the Riders lose to Ottawa in 1969
- Losing to Calgary on a bitter cold day in Taylor field in a Best out of Three Western final in 1970
- Lost West Final to Calgary in 1971
- Ian Sunter hitting a field goal on the last play of the game to win it for the Ticats in 1972. After 3 consecutive completions to Tony Gabriel.
- Lost West Final to Edmonton in 1973
- Lost West Final to Edmonton in 1974
- Lost West Final to Edmonton in 1975
- Tony F*cking Gabriel for Ottawa in 1976
- No playoff appearance from 1977 to 1987, inclusive
- 2-14 in 1979
- 2-14 in 1980

I was actually living in Toronto in 1989 and attended the Greatest Grey cup Ever played. I cried when the Riders won....

one_brick_at_a_time · #26 Posted **Nov 6, 2015, 11:20 PM**

Why is there a Saskatchewan Roughrider thread on Skyscraper.com?

Nathan · #27 Posted **Nov 7, 2015, 12:58 AM**

Quote:

Originally Posted by one_brick_at_a_time

Why is there a Saskatchewan Roughrider thread on Skyscraper.com?

Same reason there's a Bomber thread, Jets thread, CFL thread, NHL thread, MLS thread, MLB thread, Canadian Sports/Culture, Entertainment, Politics, Economics, Stats, Gay Life, etc. Random fluff/off-topic/general society threads/discussions.

We didn't have a Riders thread, and apparently a Winnipegger decided we must be feeling left out especially at the end of the worst season ever.

wacko · #28 Posted **Nov 9, 2015, 1:34 AM**

Those Winnipeggers are awfully nice.

Happy ending to a dismal season: the Riders managed to come from behind to beat Montreal in overtime 30-24. They finish with a 3-15 record, same as in 1999.

At least we have Durant back next season, and Brett Smith could eventually develop into a successor given more experience. The coaching and GM positions are huge question marks though, and we need to somehow upgrade our atrocious secondary. As HomeInMyShoes alluded to, it'll likely be a couple of years at least before we're a good team again. Hopefully we're on the upswing once again by the time the new stadium smell wears off, otherwise we could imitate the Bombers' housewarming flop.

SkydivePilot · #29 Posted **Nov 9, 2015, 12:52 PM**

Well, . . . maybe . . . next year. They better - for sure - get it up 'n get it on for the 2017 season in their new home.

Crisis · #30 Posted **Nov 9, 2015, 2:46 PM**

in 2017, the CFL's salary cap will be merely a suggestion for the Riders. They'll be opening the wallet to try to ensure a successful on-field product that season. Same as Grey Cup 2013.

SkydivePilot · #31 Posted **Dec 7, 2015, 3:38 PM**

We're getting Chris Jones from Edmonton; I'm sure he'll turn the ship around.

wacko · #32 Posted **Dec 8, 2015, 3:26 PM**

Yup, Chris Jones will be the head coach, general manager, vice-president of football operations and (at least initially) defensive coordinator. That's quite a lot of titles and job roles there. I wonder if he can actually handle all those duties simultaneously?

I also wonder if a bad taste will be left in the mouths of the Eskimos, given Jones was still under contract to them for another year. When a team fires their head coach or general manager (as the Riders did with Chamblin and Taman), the team is still obligated to pay them out for the remainder of the contract period. But when a head coach is the one who breaks the contract, are there any consequences? What if the Eskimos had demanded, say, $200,000 from the Roughriders as compensation for breaking the contract?

In any case, Chris Jones is a proven winner, and given the season the Riders just had, there's really no place for them to go but up. I would look for them to improve in 2016 and contend in 2017.

OOO AHH OGEMA · #33 Posted **Dec 8, 2015, 3:37 PM**

Quote:

Originally Posted by wacko

Yup, Chris Jones will be the head coach, general manager, vice-president of football operations and (at least initially) defensive coordinator. That's quite a lot of titles and job roles there. I wonder if he can actually handle all those duties simultaneously?

I also wonder if a bad taste will be left in the mouths of the Eskimos, given Jones was still under contract to them for another year. When a team fires their head coach or general manager (as the Riders did with Chamblin and Taman), the team is still obligated to pay them out for the remainder of the contract period. But when a head coach is the one who breaks the contract, are there any consequences? What if the Eskimos had demanded, say, $200,000 from the Roughriders as compensation for breaking the contract?

In any case, Chris Jones is a proven winner, and given the season the Riders just had, there's really no place for them to go but up. I would look for them to improve in 2016 and contend in 2017.

There are no rules around this but i suspect this situation will warrant a lot of discussion and might lead to some changes. Of course success means that your competitors are going to come knocking, but it looks like Jones is going to take a lot of his coaching staff with him. I know this type of thing hasn't happened in my memory, especially with the Grey Cup champs. It was hard enough with Austin bolting after our victory, i can't imagine the feeling if it was to a division rival along with most of his staff!

Nathan · #34 Posted **Dec 8, 2015, 3:51 PM**

Quote:

Originally Posted by Crisis

in 2017, the CFL's salary cap will be merely a suggestion for the Riders. They'll be opening the wallet to try to ensure a successful on-field product that season. Same as Grey Cup 2013.

They exceeded the cap by less than 20k. I doubt the Riders will ever want to exceed by more than 100k as that starts to remove draft picks (plus penalties double, and then triple above 200k with more draft picks being surrendered.

That said, they hamstrung themselves in future years by spreading some of the salary into later years, which is what made recruitment/retention a little tougher the last 2 years. I don't see Jones working that way; he seems like the kind of guy that would want to build a solid foundation and grow instead.

CoryB · #35 Posted **Dec 8, 2015, 4:11 PM**

Let me the first the welcome the 2015 Edmonton Eskimos to Regina following the successful relocation proposal. Once again the RoughRider organization has proven it is possible to buy a winning CFL team.

Nathan · #36 Posted **Dec 8, 2015, 4:52 PM**

Quote:

Originally Posted by CoryB

Let me the first the welcome the 2015 Edmonton Eskimos to Regina following the successful relocation proposal. Once again the RoughRider organization has proven it is possible to buy a winning CFL team.

There are 46 Roster players... None of which have been traded for or signed in free agency (as that hasn't arrived yet anyway). The Riders took a coach, and he may bring others with him... It's not entirely unheard of; head coaches tweak their supporting cast all the time, especially when going to a new team.

Also... Roughrider. RoughRider would be some sort of mashup between the historical Rough Riders of Ottawa and Roughriders of Saskatchewan.

Further, it was the Esks and Argos of old that were the first to "buy" winning teams. Montreal also tried their best before folding, but failed miserably.

And you can't buy a team like you used to be able to do (a la Toronto and Edmonton); the salary cap prevents it as there are fairly tough penalties after 100k over (the only team to have passed that level is Montreal).

Treesplease · #37 Posted **Dec 8, 2015, 5:33 PM**

Quote:

Originally Posted by CoryB

Let me the first the welcome the 2015 Edmonton Eskimos to Regina following the successful relocation proposal. Once again the RoughRider organization has proven it is possible to buy a winning CFL team.

I don't really understand your post; I get the impression you would like to see the riders continue with a below .500 win record? I understand that Jones will seek to bring some of his coaching staff with him from Edmonton. Edmonton had the best defense in the league last year and the riders had the worst. If you want to improve the defense, Edmonton is probably a good place to look. Also, I don't think the riders have proven anything about a winning team as the 2016 season hasn't started yet and you still have to play the games to determine who wins. Jones is saddled with a lot of dead weight players that either can't play or weren't coached properly in 2015. A quick turnaround is far from guaranteed.