Riders trim roster

The Saskatchewan Roughriders have trimmed their roster in preparation for the 2009 CFL season. Get all the news from the Voice of the Riders Rod Pedersen, at http://rodpedersen.blogspot.com/

The Riders open the regular season at home against the BC Lions on Friday, July 3rd. Kickoff on http://www.620ckrm.com is set for 9:00pm EDT.

Calgary defense shines in 27-19 win over Saskatchewan

Tough defense early and timely defense late spelled defeat for the Green-and-White, as the Calgary Stampeders defeated the Saskatchewan Roughriders 27-19, in front of 29,107 fans at Mosaic Stadium in Regina.

Defense was present both ways to start the game. Saskatchewan's defenders made the first big play of the night, as Eddie Davis ended Calgary's first possession, with an interception of a Henry Burris pass at the Riders' 51 yard line early in the opening quarter. The Stamps' D responded, holding the Roughriders and getting the ball back. Burris then led his team deep into Riders territory on the ensuing possession as Calgary opened up the offense. Burris completed 7 straight passes to move the ball to the Saskatchewan 5, where Joffrey Reynolds ran it in for the opening score of the night, capping a 9 play, 79 yard drive. The convert by Sandro DeAngelis put the Stampeders up 7-0, with 7:37 remaining in the first quarter.

The Calgary lead grew to 10-0 with a 28 yard field goal from DeAngelis on the first play of the second quarter. Darian Durant then came in at quarterback to relieve starter Steven Jyles, and the Riders immediately started to move the ball. An impressive, quick-strike drive, capped by a 2-yard dive over the left side by Justin Beaver and a Luca Congi convert brought Saskatchewan to within 10-7 with 10:08 left in the half. On the first play after a Calgary turnover, Durant hit Andy Fantuz with a 34-yard touchdown pass. Congi's convert put the Riders on top 14-10 with 3:23 left. The Stampeders quickly regained the lead however, as Burris found Jabari Arthur from 5 yards out. With the DeAngelis convert inside the final minute, Calgary went to the dressing room with a 17-14 halftime lead.

Defense was the story to start the second half, with a DeAngelis 10 yard field goal at the end of a long drive with 1:36 left the only points, increasing the Stampeders lead to 20-14 through three-quarter time.

Calgary had the ball at their own 18 yard line to start the final quarter, but went backwards and conceded a safety touch on a punting situation to Saskatchewan 2:02 into the fourth, drawing the Riders within 4 points, at 20-16. A Congi 32 yard field goal with 4:30 left for saskatchewan cut the Stamps' lead to 20-19, but all hopes of a Riders comeback ended just a bit less than 2 minutes later. Calgary's Burke Dales drilled a 41 yard punt, that Saskatchewan's Casey McGahee couldn't find the handle on. Juwan Simpson recovered the fumble and ran it in from 5 yards out for the major score. DeAngelis added the convert and the Stampeders held on for the 27-19 win.

Calgary had 408 yards total offense on the night, with quarterback Henry Burris leading the way. Burris completed 17 of 22 passes for 175 yards, a touchdown and an interception. Jabari Arthur (receiving) and Joffrey Reynolds (rushing) added offensive touchdowns to the late defenseive score by Simpson on the fumbled punt. Darian Durant, Steve Jyles, Dalton Bell and Juan Joseph all saw action at quarterback for Saskatchewan, combining for 191 yards on 17-of-30 passing. Andy Fantuz caught 2 passes for 48 yards and a touchdown and Hugh Charles rushed 8 times for 52 yards, while Justin Beaver scored the only rushing touchdown of the night for the Riders, who amassed 258 yards of total offense. Each team turned the ball over 3 times. Tray Blackmon and Keon Raymond led the Stamps defense with 5 tackles each, while Chris McKenzie had 5 stops for Saskatchewan.

The Riders, who finish the preseason at 0-2-0, host the BC Lions on Friday, July 3rd, to open the 2009 regular season schedule. Calgary completed their preseason with a 2-0-0 record, and open defense of their Grey Cup title on Wednesday, July 1st, as they host Montreal.

You can catch all the exciting action of the Saskatchewan Roughriders versus BC Lions CFL regular season opener on http://www.620ckrm.com/ with kickoff set for 9:00pm EDT on Friday, July 3rd, with Rod Pedersen and Carm Carteri calling the play.

CFL preseason continues tonight

Once again, there are four games on the schedule as the Canadian Football League plays it's second and final week of preseason action in preparation for the 2009 season. Winnipeg is at Montreal, Toronto is at Hamilton, Calgary is at Saskatchewan and Edmonton is at BC.

The Calgary/Saskatchewan matchup features the last two Grey Cup champions in a battle at Regina's Taylor Field. You can catch all the action with Rod Pedersen and Carm Carteri on http://www.620ckrm.com/ beginning at 9:00pm EDT.

Also, get all the news of Rider Game Day at http://www.rodpedersen.com/.

Monday Morning Meissnervations

It's another Manic Monday. Here's what's happening.

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Yesterday was Fathers Day. Technically it was my second, but since Jimmy was only three weeks old for the first one, yesterday was my first "official" Fathers Day. The Boys, Jimmy, Snoopy and Smoke(with Mommy's help, of course!), got me a copy of Paul Blart Mall Cop. We watched it last night and laughed a lot! Check it out if you can. It's really funny and really good.











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The CFL pre-season opened last Wednesday. The Edmonton Eskimos broken open a close game and won over the Saskatchewan Roughriders 45-12. The Riders, who trailed just 14-10 at the half, got their only second half points on a safety touch(For you American football fans, that's like a player running out of, or kneeling down in the endzone. It's designed to give the team which had the ball some breathing room on the change of possession). Edmonton played their experienced players quite a bit, while the Riders played their kids. The Eskimos put the game away by scoring 17 points in the third quarter and 14 more in the fourth. Coach Richie Hall, who spent nearly 20 years with Saskatchewan as a player and a coach, had to be pretty pleased with the win over his old team. But I'll bet he was pretty happy with the play of rookie quarterback Jared Zabransky, the pride of Hermiston, Oregon(Where I had my first full-time radio job a couple of hundred years ago). Zabransky, famous for leading Boise State over Oklahoma a couple of years back, showed poise all night long, completing 10 of 14 passes for 109 yards and a touchdown. The Edmonton defense was pretty solid all night long. Look for the green-and-gold to make a push for top spot in the West this season.

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Reading the blog of Rider play-by-play guy Rod Pedersen(http://www.rodpedersen.com/), it seems some fans are ready to push the panic button already. But, as Rod says, what did the Detroit Lions do last year, after going 4-0 in the pre-season? The Saskatchewan Roughriders will be a good team this season. Once Darian Durant gets his feet under him as the #1 qb and Wes Cates returns from injury to run the ball, the Riders, who won the Grey Cup in 2007 and went 12-6 last year, will be in the thich of the East pennant chase. Saskatchewan hosts the Calgary Stampeders(last season's Grey Cup champs) tomorrow night in the second and final pre-season game of 2009. Kickoff is set for 9:00pm EDT on http://www.620ckrm.com/ with Rod Pedersen and Carm Carteri calling the action. And if you haven't heard these guys call a game, tune in. They're as good as it gets!

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Now, people keep telling me how hot and humid it gets in Florida every summer, and that the hot stretch we are in now is a bit unusual for this time of year. I can't remember the last day we had below 90, with high humidity to boot. (And there's seemingly no end in sight.) I did experience the hot/humid back in the summers of '05 and '06 when we lived in Orlando. But, one is really thankful for good working air conditioning in this type of heat wave.

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Jimmy and I just came in from checking the mail. Nothing good. Rats.

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NASA won one and lost one last week. The rescheduled launch of Space Shuttle Endeavour was scrubbed last Wednesday for a second time because of hydrogen leaks. The rescheduled launch date in July 11th. NASA did successfully launch the LRO(Lunar Reconnaissance Orbiter) last Thursday, as America returns to the moon. NASA's Lunar Reconnaissance Orbiter is set to enter the moon's orbit early Tuesday. The Lunar Crater Observation and Sensing Satellite will perform a flyby, and is set to impact the moon in October.


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Talk in Kearney, Nebraska these days centers around what Kirk Brooks is doing to resurrect the Tri-City Storm hockey team not only in the community, but in the USHL as well. As I continue to hear about how much money he is spending(throwing around?) and the promises he is making(Getting game broadcasts back on over-the-air radio is NOT going to be the slam dunk he or others think it is), it reminds me of the story of another hockey team I was with several years ago. New ownership came in and starting spending money like it grew on trees. Things looked good on the surface, but got so bad behind the scenes, that the owner who not only was the team's General manager but also the public face of the franchise, had to be removed, or the team likely would not have survived past the Christmas Break. I have little doubt that if things got bad in any of it's markets, that the USHL would do what they could to insure that team got through the remainder of the season. But here's hoping that Mr. Brooks can continue to not only do what is immediately necessary to help restore the stability of the Storm, but to insure it's long term viability as well. Despite my stay there ending on something less than a positive note, I want nothing for the best to happen there. Kearney is a decent place to live and hockey improves the community as well. Good luck Mr. Brooks.

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My wife Kim returned to work today, after being out sick last week. Have a good day sweetie. I am very proud of you!

And it's because of her efforts that my Fathers Day was such a good one yesterday. I married WAAAAAAAAY over my head!

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Well, Jimmy's taking a nap and there's something actually good on TV, so that's it for now. Have a good week everyone!

Happy Fathers Day!

Being a father has been the greatest joy of my life. May all fathers experience the joy and happiness of the experience of fatherhood each and every day!

Edmonton powers past Saskatchewan in CFL pre-season action

The Edmonton Eskimos took advantage of five takeaways Wednesday night and rolled to a 45-12 win over the Saskatchewan Roughriders in CFL preseason action, in front of 34,793 fans at Commonwealth Stadium in Edmonton, Alberta.

Edmonton got on the board early in the first, on a 47 yard punt single by Derek Schiavone.The teams then exchanged turnovers, with the Eskimos intercepting a pass and losing a fumble. On their next possession, Edmonton moved the ball to the Roughrider 40, but the drive stalled there and they had to settle for a 45 yard field goal from Schivone. The Riders weren't able to move the ball with much authority in the first quarter and found themselves on the short end of a 4-0 score after the opening 15 minutes.

Saskatchewan finally started to get rolling on offense in the closing moments of the opening quarter, driving into Eskimos territory for the first time on the night. Luca Congi was able to nail a 33 yard fieldgoal with 11:27 remaining in the first half, to draw to within one at 4-3. Edmonton responded with a couple of big plays by quaterback Jared Zabransky, a long pass completion and a 12 yard scramble, moving the ball into the shadow of the Rider goaline. Zabransky then found Efram Hill for a three yard touchdown pass and with the convert completing a 9 play, 82 yard drive, took an 11-3 lead. Late in the quarter, a drive deep into Saskatchewan territory again stalled, and the Esks had to settle for a 25 yard fieldgoal with 1:43 left by Ryan Elaschuk, increasing their lead to 14-3. Saskatchewan showed flashes of a quick-strike offense on the ensuing possession, quickly driving deep into Edmonton territory as quarterback Steven Jyles hooked up with Jason Clermont on four pass plays. Jyles, unable to find a receiver on first-and-goal, scrambled for 7 yards and a touchdown with Congi's convert capping a 6 play, 73 yard, 35 second drive, bringing the Riders to within 4 at 14-10 at the half.

Saskatchewan fumbled the opening kick of the second half away and the Eskimos quickly converted, increasing the lead to 21-10 on a 13 yard touchdown pass from Lester Rickard to Kevin Challenger, with Elaschuk adding the convert just 60 seconds into the second half. Edmonton drove the field quickly again on their next possession, with Ciatrick Fason punching it in from 2 yards outs, capping a 9 play, 82 yard drive. Elaschuk nailed the convert with 9:37 left in the third, increasing the lead to 28-10. The Riders turned the ball over on an interception deep in their own territory on the next possession and Elaschuk drilled a 15 yard field goal to put the Eskimos up 31-10 with 4:11 remaining, capping the scoring in the third quarter.

Saskatchewan got the first points of the final quarter with 11:04 left, as Edmonton's punter Schiavone conceded the deuce on a safety touch. The Eskimos grabbed the ball back on an interception and crowd-favorite Jesse Lumsden scored on a 9 yard run. Elaschuk's convert with 8:26 left, put Edmonton on top 38-12. Jason Maas then hit Alan Turner with a 28 yard touchdown pass with 2:13 remaining to cap the scoring, as the Eskimos rolled to the 45-12 win.

Edmonton, who held a 509-178 advantage in total yards, was lead by their trio of quarterbacks, Jared Zabransky, Jason Maas and Lester Rickard combined to complete 24 of 36 passes for 306 yards and three touchdowns. E Hill, K Challenger and A Turner each caught a touchdown pass, while Ciatrick Fason(9 carries for 83 yards) and Jesse Lumsden(6 carries for 64 yards) each scored a rushing touchdown. The Riders played four different quarterbacks in the opener. Darian Durant, Steven Jyles, Dalton Bell and Juan Joseph went 14 of 29 for 136 yards, no scores and three interceptions. Stu Foord carried the ball 3 times for 23 yards, while quarterback Steven Jyles' touchdown run was the only touchdown of the night for Saskatchewan. Roughriders Head Coach Ken Miller talked about his teams' rookies playing the majority of the game, saying that "We're really happy that this one's over, but we'll have a really good opportunity to evaluate our young players." Commenting on the results, a 33 point loss, Miller said about the young players he used: "When we put someone on the field in the green and white, we expect them to play well and we expect them to be successful."

The Roughriders, 0-1-0 on the pre-season, host the defending Grey Cup champion Calgary Stampeders on Tuesday, June 23rd at Mosaic Stadium in Regina. Kickoff is set for 9:00pm EDT on http://www.620ckrm.com/ with Rod Pedersen and Carm Carteri calling all the action. The Eskimos, 1-0-0, travel to Vancouver for a matchup with the BC Lions next Tuesday at 10:00pm EDT.

Saskatchewan opens the 2009 CFL regular season schedule at home on Friday, July 3rd against the BC Lions beginning at 9:00pm EDT. All the exciting action home and away can be heard on CKRM, beginning one hour before scheduled kickoff.