RANDOM OBSERVATIONS FROM STAMPS VS LIONS-- GAME 1

Today's forecast calls for-- heavy cranial fog, strong to severe pain sensations with the threat of extreme turbulence precipitated by paralytic spasms.

SASKATCHEWAN TUFF STOICISM sticks to yer boots like layers of sodden spring gumbo.  

Just push through it, eh?

Allegedly, an animated dream last night turned into a real life-- head butt fest..... have no idea..... was heavily medicated and slept through it. 

But, when confronted with the evidence this a.m. sifted back and managed to scrounge some gauzy, vague visuals. "In the locker room, pressed for time to get on the field for practice. Coaches scrutinizing-- looking for a reason, any reason--  to cut me. Couldn't find my cleats, couldn't find the shoulder pads, helmet-- missing. Thought someone stole 'em. A locker room brouhaha broke out and I countered with a "Glasgow Kiss" (head butt). The dream defender said it was a feeble, no effect effort... so rallied and came back with another stronger harder shot again and again."  

Poor Betty, by the time she roused and fled-- like a streak of piss-- out from the bed; she had a huge goose egg on her forehead. 

Such is life; sleeping with a psycho. 

According to "Coke Bottles" Carl Huber (from over behind the Co-op), deranged is all too common, here in Dilke.

Skull crushin' schtick       

 "Coke Bottles" says he has re-occuring nightmares from when he was a kid and his crazy cousin "Insanity Klaus" Huber, used to whack him on the head with what Klaus called his hockey "schtick".  Klaus couldn't skate much, so he made up for it by neutralizing opponent's skulls with his trusty Northland.

Bad deal for Carl's dog. 

Good news is, and sorry PETA; it's only a furry four-legged bed mate, literally, that suffers the bruises of Carl's night tremor--  one-two flurries. 

Seems, females don't overnight at Carl's, much. Typically, they're out the door as soon as it's cash in hand for services rendered.

If you're real lucky, on a good night over at the Hotel, you'll see Klaus parked in his usual spot-- over by the pool table; with his usual tight grip on the vintage Northland. These days-- toothless, half blind and half flaccid; he don't leave his chair, much. Just give the man a stick's wide berth, when ya go to the head. 

Uncle Ernst tried out for the Hawks

Betty rekons that's why Carl's been lined up offside ever since those childhood, frozen dugout, shinny games. Maybe if Carl's dad hadn't made him wear those old hand me down, ankle height skates, that Great Uncle Ernst wore when he tried out for the Hawks before WWII; he could've out skated Klaus's brain damaging schtick. 

Apparently, this is an all too common phenomenon among ex-CFL-ers and ex-NFL-ers. Playing the game requires such intensity and being so far out on the envelope, for many, anxiety memory cogs resurface in flashback dreams 'til the echo of the final whistle. 

Last night's head butt bingo may be linked to today's C1 to C7 osteophytosis, foraminal stenosis, discogenic sclerosis-- flare up?

So on this day, we need a little somethin'.  

An intro song outta help too. An ancient and obscure but golden offering. Not for all. Works for us; as long as we're happy, eh?


Despite the immortal Frank Zappa's words, "writing about music is like dancing to architecture"; wanna find out more? You can check it out here. 

http://www.riderfans.com/forum/showthread.php?113695-The-Dilke-Ole-Opry/page10&highlight=dilke+ole+opry




Kind readers, please be warned; lots of ground to cover, this is much, much longer than a tweet.

Let's begin by shining a light on "The Pride Of Weyburn II"--  #69 Red Brett Jones. Did some nice things.  Despite the challenge of being underdeveloped both fundamentally and technically, he has adequate size, sufficient athleticism and the bulb appears to burn bright. Has a long ways to go but he's in good hands with a top caliber O-line coach and he's surrounded by very, very talented brother Hogs. Tsoumpas in particular, makes him look better than he is.

The Stamp O-Line set seriously high standards in this game. For not only themselves but for every other group in the league. 

The matchup with the Rider's D under the bright Friday lights is going to be an interesting one. 

Back to Red Brett. Not a detailed evaluation of #69's performance, merely a random highlight. 

Why did Cornish rack up the big yards? 

Great job by the O-Line and Cornish, arguably, reads the zone run better than any in the CFL. The guy is an exceptionally talented and gutsy non-import running back.

2nd & 3. Inside zone run. Tsoumpas and Jones 2 vs 2 combo #79 and #42. Circle on Jones, square on 42.

CFL style, #42 plays it downhill hard to secure his gap.

Jones didn't get much on #79 before climbing to #42. Good example of how playing beside a G of Tsoumpas' caliber can make things easier. Not many, if any, guards in the league are capable of single blocking #79 like Tsoumpas.

2nd &3. Great read by Cornish to hit it inside to secure a sure 1st down. Excellent job upfront.

Check out the Tsoumpas and #79 donnybrook, while Jones knocks #42 to his knees. Federkeil is mind blowing (will dig in more later). Check out his athleticism on a small body in open space. This is not a normal CFL non-import RT.

Gott does a good job. Got the first down. #91 is a handful.

Tsoumpas; in the words of, "Alumni Super Hero" MIKE DITKA", "takes no quarter; gives no quarter"!

"The Pride of Weyburn II", teabags #42. Notice how all of the Stamp Hogs finish their blocks. Outstanding!

If a Hog, in this instance-- #67, has a 1 technique that off his game about being single blocked, to where he doesn't care about the ball or the ball carrier-- call it a massive win.

Young Red Brett scores a teabag in his first CFL game. A gentlemanly sort of tea bag. Either, befitting the bed side manner of a future physician or a guy who's not yet, adopted the hard core grizzled demeanour, of his line mates. 

End result-- same same. Top grade from Coach Gibson. 

The Olympic judges however, place more emphasis on style.  

The British judge-- impressed with Red Brett's civility, decorum and restraint, grants a 10.

The unimpressed judge from Greece--  badly bent by "BATH HOUSE WRESTLING" standards-- docks big points and puts up a 5. 

The Uzbek judge-- visibly disturbed and angered in an apparent cultural misunderstanding-- cannot comprehend? Goats, passed out drinking companions, nubile women, young boys, a watermelon--  it is a man's duty. In a shocker, he blanks with a 0.   

Oh!!! .... those Olympic judges. 

Thanks and praises-- in the name of all that's sacred and "Vince Lombard"-- they don't give the "WORK THE GAME FOR A SNICKERS BAR-- REFS"  score cards.

Again, check out how these guys FINISH!!! 

Tsoumpas still goin' at it with #79.


#65 Dan Federkeil displays an "NFL Grade A" 7 step drop back protection-- kick step/ three step pass set.

Note, the defenders haven't twitched and #65's right foot is well on the way. From the knee down. No other body part moves until the right foot is gone and going. Utra efficiency. No wasted motion or time. This is the result of the best coaching and commitment out there. Only the very special and the very gifted athletes are physically capable of performing this move at this level. 

 Note the ground covered to achieve his landmark and the perfect angle.

 Having achieved his landmark he patiently firms his leverage, eyes the defender and times up the punch. 

A perfectly executed pass set. This is, "how to", text book material. 

Times up striking the punch.

Raw physics in action.

Note defenders feet leave the ground.

Federkeil jacks #94 and the defender's head snaps!  NICE!

Reverse motion momentum for #94

#94's assignment... defend the screen and the QB draw? 

WOW!!! 

That is just about as good of a job as it is possible for a RT to do in 7 step drop back protection! 

The Dan  Federkeil story has the Society flat out on our heels! 

1. Coach Gibson quotes:
    -- "He's a big man. He doesn't look like he weighs 300 pounds. He's got long arms. He knows how to bend his knees. He's a talented individual. You can tell he's played in the NFL. He's well-coached."

2.  Howard Mudd is one of the top three O-Line GURUS in the NFL. Depending on the debaters he could easily place number one.

3. Federkeil spent four years under Howard Mudd's tutelage with the Indianapolis Colts.

#65's technical skill and athleticism virtually jumps off the screen. Like a glaring white head boil on a buns up, kneeling midget Mexican whore's hind quarter-- Ya can't not notice. Big difference being-- this is an extreme positive that's fun to watch and adds to the excitement and anticipation of Friday's tilt. 

4. After concussion issues forced #65 to shut it down he had not practiced or played a down of football for THREE YEARS. This is unheard of. 

Hope his head stays right. Refer to "Coke Bottles" Carl Huber as the example of an undesirable  outcome from  too many schticks to the skull.

Playing O-Line, especially OT is the most unnatural activity on the football field. Every single action and nuance has to be learned and then relentlessly refined, drilled and reinforced until it becomes ingrained as muscle memory. This process typically takes many years. 

For a guy to have not played the position for THREE YEARS then step back in and play with this level of technical proficiency and dominance in the first regular season game (3rd exhibition game) is almost beyond belief. 

Not embellishment! 

Think former Outland Trophy winner and NFL player Moe Elewonibi was out for two years before starting anew with the Bombers. He was very good but not in #65's category. 

Curtis Wester tore the CFL up in '74 as a Lion rookie. He was a CFL all-star and the Western Nominee for the Schenley Most Outstanding O-Lineman as an extremely athletic Guard. After the '75 season he walked away from the game. After three years out, he resurfaced in '79 with the Riders as a wider girthed OT and played at a high level. Very cool and kind hearted guy. Another interesting and unusual story we plan to tell at a later date. Again nowhere close to #65.

Don't know of any other examples; but that don't make it so. What #65 is doing is truly extraordinary.

#67 Tsoumpas is a stud. Technically polished, physically dominant and obviously committed  to the hard work that goes into his craft-- in the Society's opinion-- HE'S THE BEST IN THE CFL!!!

Here #65 and #67 conduct a technique perfect and physically dominant, text book clinic, on how to combination block first and second level defenders on an inside zone run. The guys they did it to ain't exactly slouches neither-- #79 Taylor and #42 Mckenzie.

The Ol' Howard Mudd-- "Hanging Drop Step"! When done right..... a thing of beauty!

#79 will attempt to occupy 2 blockers. Look at the fit #67 and #65 have.

 Think Tsoumpas has put in the hard work to be strong? Look at how he struck the blow with his forearm shiv and shoulder then leveraged through #79 turning #79's shoulders while keeping his shoulders square to the line of scrimmage. #65 has a nice pad level and works through to fit up. Taylor is trying to hold on to what he's got to help his LB. But when his shoulders got turned by Tsoumpas he became a turd in a dead eddy.

#67 is about to engulf #42. With the fit the red guys had #65 now controls #79.
The arrows indicate roughly how we think Cornish would've read it. This guy did ok but what looked to him as the best read likely wasn't. The Red two did such an awesome job on the white 2 the RB really couldn't make a wrong choice. 

Tsoumpas has big cloth and "snickers bar boy", is thinking about pulling his hankie.

Veteran savvy #67 lets go of the cloth

Cloth gone, Tsoumpas  keeps his feet moving and.....   "GITS SOME"!!!

Check out how they finish. We are impressed! 

Rumor has it, Wally wasn't.

Forget about TSN's 3 players, story lines about how many sports Tate played in high school or whatever gibberish gets spewed this week. Right here and how Sholo and T George get after it will factor-- HUGE. 

Federkeil vs Chick should be a gooder. Have no idea who is favoured. Makes it all the more compelling. 

Good times!