Roughriders roll

Let's talk a little CFL football.
In the interest of full disclosure, I'm a Saskatchewan Roughriders fan. Have been since I was a wee lad. Thus, it did my heart good to watch the Riders rough up the B.C. Lions last Saturday at Empire Field. Final score: 37-18.
Random thoughts:
-- The temporary stadium at Empire Field is everything it's hyped up to be. Seating just north of 27,000 fans, it's a wonderfully intimate spot to watch a football game. It's everything that cavernous, character-less B.C. Place is not.
-- The fans at Empire, on the other hand, leave a little bit to be desired. I attended the game with a crowd of vacationing in-laws from Saskatchewan - Riders season ticket-holders - and they were roundly disappointed with the general lack of football knowledge in the bleachers. In football, it's generally understood that the home fans are to make noise as the visiting team's offence approaches the line of scrimmage, so as to make it difficult for them to communicate. I could count on one hand the number of times Lions fans tried that tactic against the Riders - and then, only after they were instructed what to do by the P.A. announcer. Weak sauce, Lions fans.
-- One more rant on Lions fans. Seems like every time I go to a Lions game, at least one fight breaks out in the stands. On Saturday, there were two brawls. I've attended a lot of sporting events in venues across Western Canada and the States, and I can honestly say that 90 per cent of the scraps I've seen have come at Lions games. I hate to apply the "white trash" label, but . . .
-- I guess I should say something nice about the Lions now. Geroy Simon, with two highlight-reel TD catches, was one of the only Leos with a pulse - I was stunned how much gas he has left in the tank for a 34-year-old. And Travis Lulay's resilience was a credit to him. The Lions backup quarterback entered the game just before halftime after Casey Printers went out with a leg injury, and the Riders spent most of the second half treating him like a pinata. But Lulay stuck with it. With the game out of reach in the fourth quarter, and just one play after being virtually de-cleated by a Sask defender, Lulay stepped up and threw a TD bomb to Simon. I've always liked Lulay.
-- As for the Riders, they looked an awful lot like the best team in the CFL in improving to 2-0. The offence has so many weapons - the score would have been even more lopsided if not for a couple of first-half mental errors - and it's scary to consider the upside as QB Darian Durant (pictured above) continues to improve. The defence, which was porous during a Week 1 win over Montreal, dominated against the Lions. It's hard to put too much stock in that performance, given the atrocious play of B.C.'s offensive line, but it was encouraging regardless.
-- In closing, since I can't seem to successfully embed video in this blog, here's a link to a hilarious YouTube video featuring Steve Carrell and Paul Rudd roasting LeBron James for his "Decision:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=KtIaMr2hGeI
And just for the heck of it, another surreal clip:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=OQSNhk5ICTI