The Pony Express

September 5^th:  But don’t count the Eskimos out.  They are a proud bunch of guys and the sting of this loss could be that spark that reactivates the dangerous assembly of talent that won a Grey Cup last year.  Higgins has a tough job ahead of him, not allowing a fired up Stamps squad think this next one is in the bag already.  Good luck with that Tom.

Ah, there is a certain self-gratitude in being a crystal ball reader.  Too bad I can’t be making some money off of it but then again I don’t gamble.  Can’t have my cake and eat it too I suppose.

The rematch of the Battle of Alberta occurred last Friday in Edmonton and for the most part the huge crowd there was provided with what they hoped the most for, an Eskimo win and delivered in a fashion that gave monumental entertainment value.  The Esks came out early, battered around the Stamps at will, moved the ball without effort and stifled anything Calgary tried in turn.  But the visitors fought back, stunning the home town heroes with a resurge of blows and seemingly had the hosts on the ropes with time ticking away until the reigning champion dug deep into that bag full of Pride and Honour and all that other touchy-feely stuff and landed the deciding knock-out blow, in slow motion Technicolour.  Fights over, the ref raised the EE’s bloodstained glove and the flashbulbs exploded like popcorn.

It was a rematch that saw the previous week’s BoA winner come out flat.  The Red and White offense was non-existent in the first half.  Now some of that could be attributed to lack of playing time as the Esks dominated offensively in moving the ball and eating up the clock, but when Henry and Co. took the field the result was a consistent two and out, two and out, two and out.  What happened to the high-flying antics of the week before?  The defense was hanging in there, trying to keep it reasonable, although the closeness of the score at the half time break can be attributed to the strange Eskimo ineptness to score majors in the red zone.  Really, the 16-11 halftime tally totally complimented the Stampeder effort.  It should have been 28 – 11.

Sad too for Stamps fans was watching the EE front seven effectively shutting down Joffrey Reynolds who was still panting hard from Monday’s rack-up of yards.  With Charles Roberts breathing down his neck in the CFL yardage race the rushing title hung in the balance, and as expected Sir Charles surpassed J.R. this last Sunday in that race.

So I thought, “All right Buratto, lets see what adjustments you make in the second half”.  The short pass attack came back, dumps to the outside and crossing routes.  This seemed to be working so why not try J.R. again a little?  Joffrey racked up a few more yards as the Eskimos had to honour the play action pass first and foremost.  But the whittling effect the short pass game had seemed to be working.

But in a reversal of role, it was the defense that let the game slip away when Ricky Ray put on his John Elway Halloween Costume and with single-mindedness and gargantuan effort drove his club 87 yards in the last minute to victory.

The 47,000-and-change EE fans in attendance renewed their vows of faith to the green and gold and the fans of the Stampeders walked away feeling frustrated.  What we had just witnessed was another example of lack of killer instinct in my opinion.  When the Stamps have the Eskimos down and their cleat on the EE’s throat somehow those pesky Esks manage to get out.  We saw it in the Western Semi-final last year.  We saw it in the second game of this season.  Although the chances of coming across the Eskimos again this year are remote the lesson to be learned can be used at any time.

Next up is a rejuvenated Bomber team.  The key matchup:  A sometime potent Calgary offense goes up against a sometime potent Winnipeg defense.  Who will prevail?  Whoever brings their ‘A’ game, of course.