Today we delve into the weekend’s number one topic; The 13th Man.
Everywhere I’ve gone since Thursday, all anyone wants to talk about is the Riders’ “too many men” penalty in their victory over Montreal on Canada Day.
Two pro football players were only too happy to discuss it on my talkshow The Sports Cage on Friday on 620 CKRM. Scott Schultz, who’s going to be a weekly fixture on Football Fridays for the full two hours, discussed the Riders being called for too many men in their last two games.
“It’s not as uncommon as you’d think but it’s been highlighted in two extreme cases,” Schultz explained. “It just boils down to personal responsibility of the players. It’s your job to know what package is going in, and to get the calls. Everyone is told to communicate with each other, get the signals and echo the call within each other. It’s just about everyone personally being responsible for where they’re supposed to be on the field at any given time.”
So it’s on the players?
“It’s up to the players, certainly,” Schultz asserted. “I mean the coaches outline it for you but they’re the coaches because they’re not out there playing. So they lay out the best plans that they can but it doesn’t amount to a hill of beans if you don’t have consistency and have it implemented amongst your players.”
While some fans hold coach Ken Miller responsible for the gaffe, Schultz does not. He equates it to his own business, Schultz Gareau Insurance, where if one of Schultzie’s managers pulls a blunder with a customer, why should Scott be held accountable?
“At the end of the day you give responsibility to people; a coach, a boss or whatever. At the end of the day Ken Miller has to stand up and face the media as the face of the organization. But, within the structure of the organization you’ve got your coaches and responsibilities are delegated and that’s how the business works.”
Seattle Seahawks punter Jon Ryan (a Regina product) is in town for his kicking camp for kids today and was on The Sports Cage as well. He agrees with Schultz, saying it’s up to the players to know who should be on the field.
“It depends on the circumstance but I take it upon myself to make sure 11 guys are on the field,” Ryan explained. “Someone’s gotta take charge of that sort of thing. But in the emotion of the game, guys tend to forget about that and get so into the game they forget about the small things.”
Ryan was at the game, and we asked him what his reaction was when the penalty was announced.
“Oh no, not again,” Ryan laughed. “That was my first thought, ‘not again’. I felt for the fans more than anything because I saw fans with hands over their face saying ‘how could this happen again’. But it’s early in the season so those things happen but it’s too bad it was at that point in the game.”
Hopefully this explains everything.
Unless perhaps you don’t agree with Scott and Jon!
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The game was definitely a classic. Alouettes colour commentator Ed Philion (a four team all-star defensive tackle) came into our broadcast booth smiling and shaking his head after the game. I asked him if the Riders and Alouettes are on a collision course for the Grey Cup.
“I think it’s really early to say that,” Philion rationalized. “You lose your quarterback at any point in the season and you’re in a world of hurt. In the East, I’d say Montreal’s the favourite because two of the four teams changed their coaches (Toronto and Winnipeg) and nobody really knows their quarterbacks. Out West it’s a different story. Calgary’s going to be better and you’ve gotta think Edmonton will be better. In B.C. some of Wally’s decisions are catching up to him and they’ve got a depleted roster. At this point in the season, Saskatchewan and Montreal are the class of their divisions but at this point it’s easier to see Montreal getting back to the Grey Cup just because their division isn’t as tough.”
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I’m told the TSN panel of Dunigan, Schultz and Climie stood up and applauded after Weston Dressler’s game-winning touchdown. They weren’t cheering for the Riders, but rather the tremendous game itself.
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I haven’t seen any ratings data, but the Rider-Alouette game seemed to be a BIG hit on the NFL Network on Thursday. It was the first of 14 CFL games that the NFL Network will carry this year.
“Obviously that was an exceptionally exciting game to start. There were so many unbelievable plays,” NFL Network spokesman Dennis Johnson told the Edmonton Sun’s Terry Jones. “If they are all like that it’s going to be a tremendous season of games.”
Here’s what the NFL Network panel of Rich Eisen, Warren Sapp, Brian Baldinger and Jamie Dukes had to say about the game when replaying the highlights:
Rich Eisen: The CFL is being simulcast on NFL Network this summer and it started off Thursday between the Saskatchewan Roughriders and the Montreal Alouettes. We can’t show you Thursday’s hi-lites without flashing back to last year’s Grey Cup. Montreal thought they had the Grey Cup won, but they missed the game-winning field goal. But hang on, Saskatchewan had too many men on the field. They had 13. But you can have 12. The Alouettes get another chance at the field goal, Damon Duval makes it and the Grey Cup is Montreal’s.
Let’s got to the rematch. Darian Durant to Andy Fantuz … it’s a tie ball game! They rule him out, but they have replay in Canada. We go to overtime. The Alouettes turn it over on downs, but guess what? Saskatchewan has 13 men AGAIN!
WARREN SAPP: What? A Baker’s Dozen! Not again!!!
EISEN: So back comes Calvillo. For S.J. Greeeeeeeeen and they get it! They gotta go for two, back to Greeeeeeen and one-handed, he’s got it!
PANEL: WHOAAAAAAAAA! Look at the Canadian farmer’s tan on that guy!
EISEN: So the Alouettes kick a field goal and the Riders need some points. The Roughriders need some points and they go to Dressler..
PANEL: TOUCHDOWN!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
JAMIE DUKES: An instant classic!
EISEN: And the Roughriders win in overtime 54-51.
WARREN SAPP: That’s how you start a season!
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Jon Ryan of the Seahawks think it’s a fantastic move to show CFL games on the NFL Network.
“Getting the games on the NFL Network is a GREAT step in the right direction, Ryan said Friday. “Especially with no football going on down here, a lot of American football fans are going to sit up and take notice of the CFL. They have the Friday night Arena game on the NFL Network and I appreciate that game but the CFL game is so much better than that game. People in the States just haven’t been exposed to it but once you watch a little bit of the CFL you get hooked pretty quickly.”
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The Roughriders will be practicing all week, basically from 11 to 1 everyday. It dawned on me how much many could be made if somebody opened a snack stand for the hundreds of people who come down to practice when the weather’s nice.
Carm and I agreed that if we had the time, we’d do it. Maybe somebody else does?
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There’s one drawback of living in the world of sports where everyone is so conscious of their bodies. I walked into Mosaic Stadium with a Slurpee before the Canada Day game and you would’ve have thought I was holding a cup of crystal meth.
The players were ALL over me about how bad it is for you. C’mon guys! It’s just a Slurpee. They’ve been around for years and nobody’s died from it. All it takes is a little more time on the treadmill but it’s worth it on a hot day.
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Speaking of the treadmill, did you know UFC fighters workout 6-8 hours per day? Amazing.
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Rider defensive tackle Marcus Adams revealed awhile back that he feels a whole lot better about himself since he doesn’t read the message board riderfans.com. Meanwhile Wes Cates felt all the negative things being said about him came from the very same website. He says he never read it himself, but his teammates told him about it.
PLAYERS! You shouldn’t be reading message boards nor blogs like this!!! These websites are for the fans not the players and coaches.
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The Roughrider Alumni golf tournament goes this afternoon at the Royal Regina Golf Club with a shotgun start at 1:00pm. I’m going to try to broadcast the Sports Cage today with John Lynch from the Royal Regina from 4-6pm.
Stay tuned…
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AND HAVE A GREAT WEEK ENJOYING THE SUNSHINE!
RP
