From the comfort of the press box, where this grizzled, gormless gargoyle of the media habitually Hoovers halftime cookies with Joey Chestnut-like efficiency, the game of football can look rudimentary.<\/p>\n
It is comparably easy for someone to watch a game on television and wonder why, oh why, the ball was not thrown to a certain receiver at a certain time.<\/p>\n
\u201cOftentimes, there is somebody open,\u201d Saskatchewan Roughriders quarterback Trevor Harris acknowledged. \u201cIt\u2019s just hard to find sometimes when you\u2019re back there as a quarterback.<\/p>\n
\u201cI know a lot of times my son will be watching film and he\u2019s like, \u2018Dad! That guy\u2019s open! We should throw it to him!\u2019<\/p>\n
\u201cMy mom can tell me he\u2019s open when you watch the film, but go stand back there when these dudes are trying to kill you and make that decision.\u201d<\/p>\n
That is the foundation of the \u201cmy mama\u201d rule, which was created in 2016 by Harris and Danny O\u2019Brien when they were CFL quarterbacking cohorts with the Ottawa REDBLACKS.<\/p>\n
\u201cIt\u2019s like, \u2018My mom could watch the film and tell me that guy\u2019s open,\u2019 \u201d Harris reiterated.<\/p>\n
\u201cOf course, he is wide open, but what was the coverage? What was the defence they were playing? Can you draw up an over-front Cover 2 for me real quick?<\/p>\n
\u201cEverybody can see that (a receiver is open), but a lot of people don\u2019t understand the intricacies of the game in terms of what the coverage is, what the blitz is, how quickly I got the ball out, or whether a coverage dictated a certain progression.\u201d<\/p>\n
There is also the matter of spotting an open receiver and releasing the ball on time, and on target, while perusing the options from the pocket \u2014\u00a0where three seconds is a luxury and four seconds is an eternity.<\/p>\n
\u201cIt\u2019s probably one of those things where you have to stand back there and watch (Calgary Stampeders defensive lineman) Folarin Orimolade come at you and destroy your chest while you try to make a throw,\u201d Harris said during a recent media scrum, leading up to Saturday\u2019s road game against the B.C. Lions (5 p.m., TSN, CKRM).<\/p>\n
\u201cYou\u2019ve got a split-second to make a decision whether to fit it behind him or check the ball down underneath. You make that last-second decision and you extend yourself and leave yourself exposed.<\/p>\n
\u201cIt\u2019s one of those things where it takes courage sometimes, but it\u2019s a fun thing. You get to go back there and just compete and play football. It\u2019s what we\u2019ve done our whole lives. But when you\u2019re up in the box, it\u2019s different.<\/p>\n
\u201cI remember in \u201923 when I had my leg broken, I was up there and I was like, \u2018Man, this looks really easy!. Why don\u2019t you guys just do that?\u2019 When you stand back there, it\u2019s a little more difficult, but so is life.<\/p>\n
\u201cI couldn\u2019t do you guys\u2019 jobs.\u201d<\/p>\n
WELCOME HOME<\/p>\n
BC Place and Corey Mace go way back.<\/p>\n
The Roughriders\u2019 Head Coach, who was born in Vancouver, attended Lions home games as a youngster.<\/p>\n
Mace also celebrated a Grey Cup victory at the facility on Nov. 20, 2014, when he sacked Hamilton Tiger-Cats quarterback Zach Collaros to help the Calgary Stampeders defeat the Hamilton Tiger-Cats 20-16.<\/p>\n
\u201cPlaying in the CFL, there were some big ones that were over there,\u201d the former Stampeders defensive tackle and defensive line coach said.<\/p>\n
\u201cIt was also an important place for grassroots and high school games. You\u2019d make it to the playoffs and you\u2019d get to play in the dome. It was the same thing for community football.<\/p>\n
\u201cThere are lots of fond memories, no doubt. It\u2019s always fun going back. It always kind of pops in your head, just the experiences that you had there.<\/p>\n
\u201cIt\u2019s a special place.\u201d<\/p>\n
That sentiment applied when Mace starred on offence and defence in the minor football ranks of Coquitlam, B.C.<\/p>\n
\u201cIn one of those championship games, for whatever reason they decided to let me play running back,\u201d he recalled.<\/p>\n
\u201cI scored three touchdowns against Richmond. I do remember that. I think it was the last time I did anything athletic.\u201d<\/p>\n
To this day, Mace has infinite respect for the early-2000s Richmond Raiders.<\/p>\n
\u201cThat was a good game and a tough opponent,\u201d he said. \u201cI remember they had a kid named R.C. Esteban. I don\u2019t know where you\u2019re at, kid, but, man, you were a monster back then.\u201d<\/p>\n
That is not surprising, when you consider that Esteban played bantam football for the well-named Richmond Roughriders before joining the Raiders.<\/p>\n
CANNON FODDER<\/p>\n
An obscure anniversary passed this past Monday.<\/p>\n
The arrival of July 14 marked 50 years since one of the goofiest plays in Roughriders history.<\/p>\n
Near the end of a home pre-season game against Edmonton, Randy Mattingly launched a perfect pass in the direction of future SaskTel Plaza of Honour inductee Rhett Dawson.<\/p>\n
\u201cIf you went to a computer and looked for the perfect pass under those conditions, that was it,\u201d Dawson told the Regina Leader-Post\u2019s Bob Hughes after the game.<\/p>\n
There was only one snag \u2014\u00a0that being the lack of a snag, through no fault of the receiver.<\/p>\n
Seasoned fans will remember a cannon that used to be ignited whenever the Roughriders scored a touchdown.<\/p>\n
On this occasion, though, the detonation was a tad premature.
\u201cThe ball was three feet from Dawson\u2019s hands,\u201d Terry Jones wrote in the Edmonton Journal. \u201cThe official was actually bringing his arms up to signal the obvious touchdown.\u201d<\/p>\n
BOOOOOOOM!<\/p>\n
\u201cDawson was scared out of his skin,\u201d Jones continued, \u201cand dropped the pass.\u201d<\/p>\n
It would have been a game-winning touchdown. Instead, the Edmonton side left Taylor Field with a 26-22 victory.<\/p>\n
Dawson followed up with a stellar 1975 regular season \u2014 catching 69 passes for 1,191 yards and 10 touchdowns en route to earning his first of two All-CFL selections.<\/p>\n
PRE-SEASON, PART 2<\/p>\n
One week ago in this space, I wrote about two Roughriders regular-season games that ended prematurely due to the elements.<\/p>\n
Oct. 25, 1954: A game in Vancouver was<\/p>\n
terminated with 6:13 remaining in the fourth quarter because thick fog had enveloped Empire Stadium. The Roughriders won, 17-7.<\/p>\n
Aug. 9, 2019: With Saskatchewan leading the host Montreal Alouettes 17-10, the game was suspended at 12:19 due to a lightning storm. The game was eventually called, with the Roughriders winning by seven points.<\/p>\n
Those flashbacks prompted an email from Saskatoon\u2019s Keith Willoughby, who pointed out that a July 19, 1974 pre-season home date with the Toronto Argonauts ended with 6:24 remaining in the fourth quarter.<\/p>\n
A power outage on a rainy night plunged Taylor Field into darkness. The decision was made to end the game and award Saskatchewan a 36-15 victory.<\/p>\n
\u201cDad and I ventured back to Melfort after the game,\u201d Willoughby recalled, \u201cbut only made it as far as Southey before we had to seek hotel accommodations.\u201d<\/p>\n
It was the rare game in which three different Roughriders quarterbacks \u2014\u00a0Mattingly, Ron Lancaster and Jim Lindsey \u2014\u00a0threw a touchdown pass.<\/p>\n
The Argos\u2019 quarterbacks, Mike Rae and Sonny Sixkiller, both went 5-for-12.<\/p>\n
Later that year, Sixkiller was a technical advisor in the hit movie, The Longest Yard. He provided some pointers to Burt Reynolds, who played the role of a quarterback. Sixkiller also had a minor acting role in the movie.<\/p>\n
Another quarterbacking note: Two days after the shortened Roughriders-Argonauts game, Lindsey was traded to Toronto for George Wells.<\/p>\n
Wells was named an All-CFL defensive end in 1974. He earned divisional honours in each of the next two seasons.<\/p>\n
ROLL CREDITS \u2026<\/p>\n
\u2022 Nice people who deserve a plug: Craig Smith, Lenni Lee Ehrmantraut, Sarah Jones, Doug Russell, Angela Buztynski, Keith Willoughby, Rhett Dawson, Phil Habig, Jaxon Ford, Kim Gallagher, Gregg McSherry, Drae McCray, Logan Ferland, Claire Hanna, Amanda Delparte, Keith Willoughby, Ian Hamillton, George Wells and, once again, R.C. Esteban.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"From the comfort of the press box, where this grizzled, gormless gargoyle of the media habitually Hoovers halftime…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":8496,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[437],"tags":[49,48,521,522,520,82],"class_list":["post-8495","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-cfl","tag-ca","tag-canada","tag-canadian-football-league","tag-canadianfootballleague","tag-cfl","tag-sports"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/8495","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=8495"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/8495\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/8496"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=8495"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=8495"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=8495"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}