He’s back in green and white instead of green and gold. Richie Hall has returned to the Riders and to his old position of defensive co-ordinator. Before taking the Eskimos head coaching job Hall spent 15 seasons with the Riders as a player and as a coach, including 8 years as the defensive co-ordinator.

Hall joined the Riders coaching staff in 1994, three years after completing his nine year career as a player. He coached the DB’s from 94 to 2000 taking over as defensive co-ordinator in 2001. Hall and Riders new head coach Greg Marshall worked together on the Riders coaching staff in the 90’s.

Marshall, Hall, and offensive co-ordinator Doug Berry were all finalists to take over for Ken Miller….and all are very close friends.

Make no mistake, Hall is back in the province he loves. His Richie Hall Red Cross Golf Classic will be on for a 20th straight season right here in Yorkton this summer….now the trip down here won’t be quite as long.

Hall was fired by the Eskimos in November after two losing seasons. Hall says “That makes you either bitter or makes you better”

I’m betting on better!

Welcome back Richie!

RIM

Chris Getzlaf is a big reason the Riders are in the Grey Cup and should the Green Guys win this weekend’s 98th CFL Championship, Mr. Getzlaf will be front and center again.

The Riders were trailing 11-zip and desperately needed Getzlaf’s six yard, six pointer last weekend against the Stamps. It got them back in the game and certainly lifted their spirits on the way to a 20-16 victory in last Sunday’s West Division final. That play was just one of his game high 8 catches for 109 yards. He was named the Canadian player of the week for his efforts.

Their is no doubt his efforts are a major reason the Riders are playing in the big game for the 3rd time in 4 seasons…and expect Getzlaf to be a go to guy this weekend as well. Calgary manned up and put their two best cover guys on the Riders top two guys, Fantuz and Dressler and that left Getzlaf free do do some damage. Expect Montreal to try and do the same this Sunday and that’ll give other guys like Getzlaf a chance to beat the man coverage.

Go Riders Go!!!!

RIM

Hockey players have been doing it in the playoffs for years. And hey, it worked pretty well for the San Francisco Giants who followed the lead of closer Brian Wilson who grew a playoff beard. Many Giants teammates joined him and rode the wave all the way to a World Series title.

Now, the green guys are forging forward with the extra facial follicles. The Riders have actually made hair a unifying force for the past couple of seasons. Last season you may recall Darian Durant, Weston Dressler, Andy Fantuz and Rob Bagg all grew Mohawks
to try and bring the team a little closer…hey it got em to the Grey Cup didn’t it?

This season, Durant, Fantuz, Dressler, Chris Getlaf and Cary Koch are all sporting a playoff beard. Koch even dyed his black for the playoffs. He says it worked against BC so he’s going to keep it going against the Stamps in the Western Final.

Hey…whatever works come the second season, the real season, the playoffs!

RIM

Come Sunday and the Western Semi-Final, the green guys will be facing the CFL’s hottest football club….the BC Lions.

The Leos couldn’t have started any slower….just one measily win in their first 8 games….but what a difference a couple of months makes. Down the stretch, they were hotter then 12 noon on a Mexican beach…..winning 7 of their last ten and with a little help from their Rider friends who knocked off the Eskimos….they had their ticket to the dance.

The Riders might also be well advised to keep Darian Durant away from Lions DB Ryan Phillips during the pre-game warm-up. You see, when Phillips gets a chance to talk to Durant before the game, he, more times then not, will come up with an interception, or two.

When the two met back on July 10 in BC…no talk…..no picks.
August 12th, they chatted and Phillips got two picks….
October 31st, a little chat, and you guessed it, two more picks for Phillips in the Lions 23-17 victory.

Two more things to consider about Phillips…..13 of his 27 career interceptions have come against the Riders but more importantly Phillips says Mosaic Stadium has always been his favourite place to play!
How many visiting players have you heard say that!!

RIM

As I told you a couple of weeks back…when it comes to the CFL….it doesn’t get any better then, green and white vs green and gold…….and this, the 4th and final regular season meeting between the two is ginormous.

For the Eskimos, it’s all about the second season, the playoffs. Win, and they’re in……as for the Riders, they’re hosting the West Semi-Final Sunday November 14th and it’s past the time they need to be playing their best football of the season….rest the starters, not a chance….not now!

Heading into this one, the Eskimos are playing way better ball…..They’ve won 3 in a row for the first time since the end of the 2005 season, and five of their last 6, including a 39-24 victory over the Riders in Edmonton a couple of weeks ago…….as for the Riders….they couldn’t be playing any worse after 4 straight ticks in the loss column.

Should be a dandy come Saturday!

RIM

Not sure what the good folks of Saskatchewan are more ticked at…this lovely “How do you do” from mother nature, or the Riders special teams. Right now, “Fire Daley” can be heard as much or more then “Pil Please!”

The truth is, the Riders special teams are as bad as anyone can ever remember…..two things stick out like a hammer on a thumb from last weekends loss in Edmonton….fumbling away the opening kick-off and then allowing former green guy, punt returner Jason Armstead to sache, untouched, into the end zone…….and if you look closely folks…..in 7 of the Riders last 8 losses…special teams ineptitude has been the issue….can we really blame Daley for all of this…..not a chance.

Daley wasn’t with the club at last season’s Grey Cup….he can’t be blamed for the too many men on the field….it’s not Daley’s fault they didn’t have a timeout left which would have saved the day, iced the kicker, and possibly given the Riders there 2nd Grey Cup in 3 years.

No it’s not all about Jim Daley….but it is about fixing those dreadful, not so special, Special Teams.

RIM

Forget Riders-Bombers, Stamps-Eskimos, even Argos-Ticats….the CFL’s best rivalry, when both are at their best, is green and white vs green and gold, the Riders vs the Eskimos!

Granted, the oldy but goody has taken a bit of lickin this season with the Eskies struggling at 5 and 10….however, these two foes will bang bodies twice in the next three weeks and possibly again in the West Division Semi-Final……just the two guaranteed clashes should heat things up beyond the boiling point.

Just a couple of reasons these tilts should be tremaculous….they’re both must wins for Edmonton if they hope to make it to the second season, if the green guys win them both, they could still catch Calgary for first……

And lest we forget who the Eskimos new GM is these days……Mr.Eric Tillman….the man who made the Riders what they are today and ofcourse one of the big reasons they won that Grey Cup in 2007…..

Said Tillman….. “I can tell you it’s just another game….but that would be incredibly disingenuous”.

Batten down the hatches!

Rim

Don’t expect the green guys to do much at the CFL’s trading deadline….that according to the Riders GM Brendan Taman. Taman says their have been a few discussions…..no doubt, the Riders have a barn full of Canadian talent that every team in the league would like to get their hands on.

There are several reasons the Riders probably won’t do anything major not the least of which is team chemistry….at 9 and 5, they love what they have on the field and in the lockeroom.

Truth is, major deadline deals are kinda rare in the CFL……the Riders did make one last season picking up import offensive tackle Cliff Washburn for a couple of draft picks……Washburn was released in the off season.

And from the “thanks for coming out” file…receiver Derick Armstrong was suppose to start practicing with the Riders Wednesday….he was placed on the practice roster just a few days before….but Tuesday night, the Eskimos, in desperate need of a quality receiver, claimed him off the Riders practice roster. The Riders didn’t plan on activating him for Sundays tilt with the Stamps, but you may recall he began his CFL career with the Riders back in 2001….the next season he was an all Canadian with 70 catches for 1,104 yards. His second stint lasted only a couple of hours.

RIM

One has to really wonder why CFL teams don’t give their back-up quarterbacks more playing time….all of a sudden the number two guy, and sometimes, number 3 on the depth chart, has to step in there, and they look completely lost….physically, but just as importantly, mentally.

Lets take former Riders back-up Dalton Bell for example. He barely played for the green and white, even less so for his new team this season, the Argos. Argo’s starter Cleo Lemon goes down with a concussion, Bell gets the start against the Riders last week and at times looked like a deer in the headlights…can we blame him.

And a big scare for the Riders at practice Tuesday. Darian Durant had to leave practice early with an injury to his lower right leg and did not return. So now what.

Head Coach Ken Miller says Durant should be fine come Saturday’s rematch with the Argos…..but what if he wasn’t.

Number two Ryan Dinwiddie hasn’t started a CFL game since 2008 when he was with the Bombers…..number 3 Cole Bergquist never has.

It looks like everything will turn out fine this time for the green guys……but what if Durant, the CFL’s number one passer at the moment, goes down. I’m thinking it’s better to have the back-ups ready to go rather then just standing on the sidelines holding a clipboard.

RIM

Fisher price toy recall
Products affected by this recall:
Trikes
• 72633 Hot Wheels Trike
• 72639 Barbie™ Butterfly Trike
• 72642 Lil’ Kawasaki® Trike
• 72643 Tough Trike
• 72644 Tough Trike
• 72792 Kawasaki Trike
• B8775 Kawasaki® Ninja® Tough Trike
• B8776 Barbie™ Tough Trike
• K6672 Nick Jr./Dora the Explorer Tough Trike
• K6673 Go, Diego, Go! Tough Trike
• M5727 Barbie™ Tough Trike Princess Ride-On
• N6021 Kawasaki Tough Trike
• T6209 Thomas & Friends™ Tough Trike
• V4270 Go, Diego, Go!™ Kid-Tough™ Trike
Rampway
• T4261 Little People® Wheelies™ Stand ‘n Play™ Rampway
• V6378 Little People® Wheelies™ Stand ‘n Play™ Rampway Gift Set
Infant toys with inflatable balls
• 73408 Baby Playzone™ Crawl & Cruise Playground™
• B2408 Baby Playzone™ Crawl & Slide Arcade™
• C3068 Ocean Wonders™ Kick & Crawl™ Aquarium
• H5704 Baby Gymtastics™ Play Wall
• H8094 Ocean Wonders™ Kick & Crawl™ Aquarium
• J0327 1-2-3 Tetherball
• K0476 Bat & Score Goal™
High Chairs
• 79638 Healthy Care™ High Chair
• 79639 Healthy Care™ High Chair
• 79640 Healthy Care™ High Chair
• 79641 Healthy Care™ High Chair
• B0326 Deluxe Healthy Care™ High Chair
• B2105 Deluxe Healthy Care™ High Chair
• B2875 Healthy Care™ High Chair
• C4630 Healthy Care™ High Chair
• C4632 Link-a-doos™ Deluxe Plus Healthy Care™ High Chair
• C5936 Healthy Care™ High Chair
• G4406 Healthy Care™ High Chair
• G8659 Aquarium Healthy Care High Chair™
• H0796 Deluxe Healthy Care™ High Chair
• H1152 Healthy Care™ High Chair
• H4864 Aquarium Healthy Care™ High Chair
• H7241 Healthy Care™ High Chair
• H8906 Close to Me™ High Chair
• H9178 Easy Clean™ High Chair
• J4011 Easy Clean™ High Chair
• J6292 Easy Clean™ High Chair
• J8229 Easy Clean™ High Chair
• K2927 Rainforest™ Healthy Care™ High Chair
• L1912 Healthy Care™ High Chair