Riders on TV tonight

[Rider Rooter]

ESPNcc

5:30 CFL Traditions - Saskatchewan Roughriders
6:00 Saskatchewan @ BC July 18, 1989

Good chance to see Ray Elgaard in action again.

[RiderPride86]

ESPNcc

5:30 CFL Traditions - Saskatchewan Roughriders
6:00 Saskatchewan @ BC July 18, 1989

Good chance to see Ray Elgaard in action again.

Woops I posted this too...owell.

[green4life]

That was a kickass fake punt we ran. Snuck Austin in as a blocker, snapped ball to him, nice handoff to Harley and some big yardage.

Lots of kewl things to notice from that year and game. Penalty flags are yellow, our water boy looks like Conan Obrien, our jerseys do not look as similar as our recent ones (outlined in green). Amazingly, still seems to be the same BC Place Turf.

[Sudsy]

Great...just :censor: great! Bell gives us free previews for ESPNc for the month of January and we get stuck watching Ottawa vs Toronto etc. Then on Feb 1 they put a Rider game on after the free previews are done. Typical!!

[green4life]

When did Narco start wearing the glass cutter gloves? He nor Elgaard is wearin them this game...

[rbanow]

wow, I was worried that I was going to see us lose it at the last second again....BC Place has too may memories.

[CalgaryRiderFan]

When did Narco start wearing the glass cutter gloves? He nor Elgaard is wearin them this game...

Fairholm brought them in with him in 1988 as a rookie. Not sure when the other two started wearing them

[Ravi]

That was a kickass fake punt we ran. Snuck Austin in as a blocker, snapped ball to him, nice handoff to Harley and some big yardage.

Lots of kewl things to notice from that year and game. Penalty flags are yellow, our water boy looks like Conan Obrien, our jerseys do not look as similar as our recent ones (outlined in green). Amazingly, still seems to be the same BC Place Turf.

The turf from the '89 game is the original B.C. Place turf which was replaced in 1992 or 1993. They have had the same lousy turf since '92 or '93 but it appears as though they will finally replace it this year.

[Rwilco]

Gloves were an 89 phenomena...must be just shy a couple games. Narco has them on in my framed photo of the '89 Grey Cup team.

[Riderfan]

The game presented an opportunity to look again at several players and situations. You will note the 'bombs away' approach that Burgess had to football. He threw the ball deep a great deal and his passing percentages suggested this. During this game he did not have interceptions which sometimes was a problem . Fifty percent or less completion averages does not usually win too many games. The comment was made that he completed 46% of his passes the previous year.

Where was Glen Suitor? He was absent from the pass defence although he played the entire game. The halfbacks and corners were mainly on their own the entire game. Those deep passes required support from the safety. Albright the MLB was also mostly invisible although he was playing injured.

Another aspect was the play in relief of rookie ex Slippery Rock State College's Donovan Wright the ONLY first round draft pick of THREE the Riders had selected that year who actually reported. He disappeared quickly and resurfaced briefly in I believe Toronto as did Kevin Smellie another 1st pick who failed to report to the Riders. Who was the other 1st Rounder who refused a Rider contract? ---Wright? I believe that he was a defensive back. I think he played briefly in the East as well.

This of course along with the failure to sign their 1st pick running back Rueben Mayes from Washington State several years ago no doubt influenced the Riders to be painfully aware of the consequences of only selecting players who would report. Another example was when a star Canadian Penn State linebacker refused to come here after being drafted in 1988. Pete Giftopoulous (sp?) was the guy.

Unlike most CFL teams the Riders have not selected the best players available and have drafted to needs and perhaps whether the player would actually arrive. This indicates how the challenges of the past were perhaps different than now in getting players to report here. Even when the Riders selected people they too often would not report.

Many of their Canadian contingent were rejects from other teams like Milson Jones, Rick Goltz and others who were unable to find employment elsewhere at the end of their careers. Milson did play well though and unfortunately chronic injuries ended his fine career here.

Another aspect that was apparent was the lack of Practice Roster players which created a problem for the team when injuries presented themselves. Jeff Treflin a 185 lb Canadian safety was forced to play a linebacker spot in this game. Al Ford preferred to bring in players as they were required thus saving money. The problem was that other teams had practiced players ready to go while the Riders needed to first find guys, bring them in and then prepare them meanwhile games were happening.

It was great to see Gary Lewis a great defensive lineman from Oklahoma. He was a stalwart player. And of course Albert Brown the speedy if not suspect defensive corner. Harry Skipper was an excellent player perhaps on the downside of his career. He was widely criticised for his play against Tony Champion in the Grey Cup win. Tony made several of the finest catches in football history while playing with cracked ribs. NOBODY could have covered him on that day.

Narcisse and Elgaard were in their prime. Jeff Fairholm was a great receiver who would have started in the CFL as an American or Canadian much like legend Ted Urness of another era. Jeff was never caught from behind on a long pattern in his CFL career. Another fine player was another journeyman guy called Moore who did a fine job as a offensive lineman.

There are other nostalgic aspects to this game as well. I couldn't help remembering of the irony of the Riders losing a key journeyman James Curry defensive lineman because he was suspended. Fortunately, he was replaced by a sensational rookie from the same school as Bobby Jurasin in the Grey Cup at a later date. Unfortunately, Chuck Kingbeil of Northern Michigan moved on the next year to the Miami Dolphins where his career was cut short by a back injury. This is just another example of how continuity was often a problem for this franchise with sensational players leaving after only a year or so and not being replaced.

[CalgaryRiderFan]

Yeah it was cool to see that game again and see those guys in action. A couple of things you mentioned, Riderfan.

The third guy who didn't report to us was a DB with the last name Thomas (Andrew or Marcus). The one thing that saved us in the Giftopolous situation was the Riders either got Shawn Daniels in the deal with Hamilton or got a draft pick which they used to select Daniels. I would think the Riders didn't really do their homework and talk to these players ahead of time or you'd think they would have got a feel about whether they would come to Sask or not.
I was no Ford fan, believe me, but I will cut him some slack about Treftlin at LB in that game. The Rides had a horrendous preseason when it came to losing Canadian defensive talent. They lost Greg McCormick, Steve Crane, and Dan Rashovish in the pre-season and first regular season game. I think Wright played the Canadian LB spot until Crane and / or Rashovich returned,

[fergyrocks]

Thanks for that background on that game Riderfan. I caught the second half, and enjoyed it. Back in '89, I was only 8 years old, so I'd never watched that game before, and I'll admit that I don't know much of the background of the team that brought the grey cup to Saskatchewan.

Milson Jones looked out-of-shape. Kind of Wade Miller-esque. I was wondering how he even made the roster, and then I saw him break a few decent runs, and he did some good blocking. I guess it goes to show that you don't need to be a physical specimin to play at fullback.

[Riderfan]

Yeah it was cool to see that game again and see those guys in action. A couple of things you mentioned, Riderfan.

The third guy who didn't report to us was a DB with the last name Thomas (Andrew or Marcus). The one thing that saved us in the Giftopolous situation was the Riders either got Shawn Daniels in the deal with Hamilton or got a draft pick which they used to select Daniels. I would think the Riders didn't really do their homework and talk to these players ahead of time or you'd think they would have got a feel about whether they would come to Sask or not.
I was no Ford fan, believe me, but I will cut him some slack about Treftlin at LB in that game. The Rides had a horrendous preseason when it came to losing Canadian defensive talent. They lost Greg McCormick, Steve Crane, and Dan Rashovish in the pre-season and first regular season game. I think Wright played the Canadian LB spot until Crane and / or Rashovich returned,

Yes ,you are corect about Daniels. Unfortunately he didn't stick around long enough. I agree that the Riders did have a spate of injuries losing Crane and Rashovich who were a pretty good duo of linebackers. It would have been great to have more guys on the Practice roster;however, in this case they also needed to abide by the ratio as they were deciding to go with one Canadian linebacker in the mix. With those injuries to their Canadians they were in difficulty.

That Treflin wore down early in the game complicated the situation. Donovan did play well for a rookie. I wish he would have gotten more of an opportunity to play later. I met him a couple of times and he seemed a great guy and was a fine athlete.

I think Andrew Thomas was the guy who didn't report

[CalgaryRiderFan]

Milson was known as one of the most intelligent players on the team. What I heard was that after a series or two, he would be able to tell the coaches about what fronts and blitzes the opposition was using, what would work against it etc. He was a great leader. I also heard that in the 89 West Final when Edmonton jumped out to the early lead, he was going up and down hte bench telling the team they had the Esks right where they wanted and keeping the mood upbeat.
Milson had an uncanny knack of finding the hole in short yardage. He is the best I've ever seen in a Rider uniform at converting short yardage. Sometimes he would cut outside, making everyone cringe...and bust it for a big gain.

[green4life]

Everytime I see a Rider classic game from the early 90s or late 90s, one thing sticks out; Fairholm was underrated. The man was tough. I still think his TD grab in the 89 game was one of the best in Grey Cup history...he had incredible concentration.

[Riderfan]

Milson was known as one of the most intelligent players on the team. What I heard was that after a series or two, he would be able to tell the coaches about what fronts and blitzes the opposition was using, what would work against it etc. He was a great leader. I also heard that in the 89 West Final when Edmonton jumped out to the early lead, he was going up and down hte bench telling the team they had the Esks right where they wanted and keeping the mood upbeat.
Milson had an uncanny knack of finding the hole in short yardage. He is the best I've ever seen in a Rider uniform at converting short yardage. Sometimes he would cut outside, making everyone cringe...and bust it for a big gain.

If Milson could have kept healthy he would have been an all time Rider great. He also was a very unassuming firendly guy who was great to be around. I got to know him, Mark Guy , Lionel Vital , Donovan and a few other guys because they rented from a friend. Nice guys all.

The last time I heard about Milson was that he was in Nunavat (I think?).

[gersh]

Great...just :censor: great! Bell gives us free previews for ESPNc for the month of January and we get stuck watching Ottawa vs Toronto etc. Then on Feb 1 they put a Rider game on after the free previews are done. Typical!!

Exactly what I was going to say!

[Rammer]

Exactly what I was going to say!

Thirded, although the outcome may not of been what I was looking for. It does show a ver sleek looking Jamie Taras though, let me know if you need to know anything about his career.......;)