Scott Nicholls's blog

The other weekend, I was on location at Capital Pontiac for the Kids Day they had and one of the highlights had to be watching Gainer the Gopher.

Gainer was there for a couple hours and I had a chance to watch the way kids responded to him. We've all seen him at Rider games and how he helps whip the crowd up, but it was something special to behold at Capital Pontiac.

We all have those little things that peeve us - I'll start.

Now we're starting to get another QB controversy here but in typical Rider Fan fashion - nothing anyone does is good enough.  Granted Bishop was trying to force plays and make things happen on his own, but he was on track for over 400 yards passing on Saturday - he's just gotta settle down.  Meanwhile fans are now clamouring for Durant to start...

You know when it comes to some fans I'm convinced Christ could come down on a cloud at half time and they still wouldn't be impressed.

• Wow - we really must have angered the football gods - in addition to the injuries we already have, we can add Jeremy O'Day and Wes Cates to the list.  When's it gonna stop?

Good on the Rider organization for mobilizing so quickly for a tribute to Ron Lancaster this Saturday.

There will be a video tribute to Ron as well as a moment of silence (and god help any idiot who makes noise in that time), flags will be flying at half mast as well.  On the field, the Riders will be wearing their retro jerseys and have #23 stickers on their helmets.  There are also plans for special field markings - perhaps a 23 yard line? 

This is hitting me harder than I thought it would.

What a sad day for Riderville and the CFL. 

I'm gonna vent a little bit here...

Sometimes, you just get beat.  You can't win them all, but after seeing the Riders come up short on Saturday, I have a few thoughts...

Our O-line, while not stellar, wasn't horrible - keep in mind, the Lions have one of the elite D-lines in the league - with guys like Cam Wake and Aaron Hunt coming at you, you better be hot.  That being said, Makowsky is one of my favorite Riders, but he looked a little out of place Saturday.

I've never liked dentists (actually, I don't mind dentists, just what they do).  Quite a few years back, I had to get a crown on one of my teeth.  Fair enough - better that than a gaping hole at the side of my smile.  The crown was done and remained for several years.  The last few years it would start popping out every now and again and I've have it re-cemented in.  The last time, there's not enough of the original tooth left to cement to, so the crown is now NFG and I had to get what was left of the base of my tooth taken out.

That happened at 3:07pm today.

Looking forward to the game this weekend - with Dressler and Chick back, that'll help with two key pieces of the puzzle.

I have a couple thoughts, though.

Congi is a decent enough punter, but his delivery is a little slower than Boreham's - look for the Bombers to really go for the block and don't be suprised if it happens.

Bishop has had another week of practice and he and Dressler looked to be really clicking this week - look for Dressler's number to be called a lot this Sunday.