09-17-2019, 09:12 PM
Darian Durant found another level in helping lead the Saskatchewan Roughriders to a Grey Cup victory last season. For an encore, hell have to find an even higher level still. Durant was sensational last year, posting career numbers (325-531 for 4,154 passing yards, and a career best 31 touchdowns to just 12 interceptions), and featuring regularly in the MOP Watch. By the increasingly criticized metric that is Quarterback Rating, Durant had the best year of his career last year at 95.7, a full seven points higher than his career mark. But Durant had an awful lot of help on the teams third-ranked offence. First and foremost was league all-star and team nominee for Most Outstanding Player Kory Sheets. In his sophomore CFL campaign Sheets was second in league rushing with 1,598 yards and a gaudy 5.6 yards per carry average and 12 touchdowns. His Grey Cup performance will also be remembered in Saskatchewan – and Hamilton, albeit much less fondly – for years to come. The 29-year-old will be preparing for NFL training camp in Oakland when the Roughriders begin their title defence, and while hes in tough to make the Raiders roster, the best case scenario for Saskatchewan is a return sometime around Labour Day. Another Roughriders mainstay and fan favourite Durant will no longer have at his disposal is slight receiver Weston Dressler. The 57 slotback was a 1,000-yard receiver in five of his six CFL seasons, falling just 59 yards short in his sophomore campaign, and scored a combined 45 touchdowns. Durant and Dresslers time in Saskatchewan had coincided, the two emerging together in 2008. But now the favourite target is in Kansas City with no guarantee of returning. So this year Durant enters the unquestioned leader on offence, and with more unknowns on the roster than previous seasons, hell have to shoulder a greater load. The good news of course is that the cupboard isnt completely bare. While Dresslers sure hands and elusiveness will be missed in the receiving corps, two other pass catchers, ones still on the roster, eclipsed the 1,000-yard mark as well last season in Chris Getzlaf, who led the team with 1,045, and Taj Smith, who hit the mark in just his second season. And if Rob Bagg can stay healthy all year, that will be another receiver for Durant to lean on. The running back position is much more of a toss-up heading into the season. The team has five RBs with a combined two carries CFL experience (Clifton Smith, which he gained with the Calgary Stampeders last season). But the last time they tried to replace a solid veteran running back, Wes Cates in 2012, they found a guy who would one day lead them to a Grey Cup victory at home. So, theres hope. Things could work out around Durant; he may have a support staff as talented as the one hoisting the Grey Cup alongside him last year. But the inexperience and uncertainty heading into the season alone means hell have to do even more as both a leader and performer to keep the Roughriders in Grey Cup contention. The football crazy fans in Saskatchewan already love their veteran quarterback; if he can elevate his game and bring more success to the province, theyll cherish him even more. Notes Expansion Draft Roughriders fans were surprised to see DT Keith Shologan get picked by the Ottawa Redblacks in the national portion of the expansion draft after the veteran spent the past six seasons in Saskatchewan. Ottawa also grabbed Shologans backup in Zack Evans one round later, it being evident the Roughriders were making a ratio change. OT James Lee was Saskatchewans international loss in the draft. Coach of the YearIn his second season as head coach of the Roughriders, Corey Chamblin had a dream year. He led Saskatchewan to a scorching start to the season before guiding them to a Grey Cup win in front of a boisterous hometown crowd. Chamblin was awarded in the off-season with the leagues Coach of the Year award, beating out former Roughriders coach Kent Austin. Free Agency The Roughriders lost a lot more talent in free agency than they signed back. Notable losses included S Craig Butler, LBs Abraham Kromah and Graig Newman, WR Kierre Johnson, RB Jock Sanders, and QB Drew Willy, not to mention Kory Sheets and Weston Dressler who are now in the NFL. The team did lock up some of their pending free agents however, including DBs Paul Woldu and Terrell Maze, and WR Taj Smith. CFL DraftThe Roughriders traded out of the first round, stock piling picks later in the draft. With their first pick in the second round the team landed CFL Combine star Dylan Ainsworth, a DL from Western, before also grabbing WR Alex Pierzchalski from Toronto. Saskatchewan also had two picks in the third round, nabbing John Mark from Calgary and WR Kristopher Bastien from Concordia. Their remaining picks included DB Matt Webster from Queens and OL Kyle Paterson from Regina in the fifth round, LB Travis Bent from Concordia in the sixth round, and OL Terry Hart from St. Francis Xavier in the seventh round. New Mosaic StadiumRoughriders fans got a glimpse at the teams new stadium late in the off-season and not much longer ground was broken. The $278 million project should be completed by August 2016 and will give the 33,000 fans surely to pack the place on a regular basis a more comfortable viewing experience than the one they are getting now. James Van Riemsdyk Flyers Jersey . -- The Oakland Raiders added a veteran presence to their young receiving group by signing free agent James Jones to a three-year contract Monday. Bobby Clarke Flyers Jersey . -- The Sacramento Kings have claimed forward Travis Outlaw off waivers under the NBAs new amnesty provision, filling out the frontcourt with another veteran. http://www.nhlflyersproauthentic.com/nol...ey-jersey/. Nainggolan scored his first Italian league goal at Bologna, in October 2010, and he also opened his Roma account there following his January move from Cagliari. The Belgium midfielder volleyed home Miralem Pjanics cross from close range eight minutes from time. Samuel Morin Flyers Jersey . Yahoo! Sports columnist Marc Spears says that the Boogie Smooth album may have been an elaborate April Fools prank. Bernie Parent Jersey . The Brazilian heads into Saturday afternoons race coming off a close runner-up finish to Ryan Hunter-Reay in the Indianapolis 500.My career has seen me do the strength and conditioning for some elite members of Team Quest, Reign MMA, and Black House. Its been a wild ride that has found me on the other end of the microphone and writing. Im now more of a media based personality that trains specialized clients, rather than a strength coach that does media from time to time. So when the opportunity came to do another fight camp, I jumped on it. Well, not exactly a fight camp. I dont intend on sparring. This is me showing fans what goes into the physical prep of a fighter. Its something every fan should experience. Not just MMA fans, but all sports. I always say you cant boo an athlete until youve trained like one. Without the sparring and the training injuries, this still isnt the total experience. If you follow along and try adding some of the treadmill sprint work, different lifting techniques and of course, the stretching, youll soon come to realize that MMA is actually a whole new level of tough. Never mind the technical aspect, lets get an appreciation for the workouts. For this blog, I want to give you the full experience. That means, training with a coach. Can I do it alone? Yes, Ive prepared some of the best of the best. I know that to get the best results, you need the best coaches. So I went where a few of my mentors and role models go. Troy Westwood is one of the fittest guys I know, hes the host of the Morning show on TSN 1290, Doug Brown played CFL and was one of the best of the best, Obby Kahn makes the best shawarma in Winnipeg, He also happens to have come back from injuries and illness that would have crippled lesser men. They all go see Jeff Fisher at Elite Performance in Winnipeg. So I knocked on the door. So far I have been through the testing day and I may be regretting the decision. Here is where the journey starts. I had a full medical work up to ensure no mistakes or simple injuries were caused during training. The worst thing that can haappen to any athlete is to lose technical and tactical days because a Strength Coach caused an injury in the gym.dddddddddddd. A mistake that can be easily avoided with an understanding of the body and making a program designed for the athlete. I now have this thanks to Fish. The next step is finding the athletes starting point, and ensuring you never over train or take steps back. My testing day set out to find my lactic threshold, anaerobic capacity, and over all muscle strength. I did 17 beautiful chin ups. Not bad considering Im 63 and 228lbs. I was proud.Im getting my work done with a professional. If you dont have access to this type of total committed training, try doing this to find your starting point next time you are at the gym. (Always consult a doctor before beginning any exercise program) Work with a spotter/counter/timer Complete as many push-ups as you can without stopping. Rest 3-4 minutes and repeat. Same thing for Chin Ups. Plank once until failure. Run as far as you can in 12 minutes record the distance you go in METERS (not miles or kilometers). This is called the cooper test. Plug the numbers into this equation - Basically I want you to subtract 505 from the meters you run. Then divide it by 45. Thats your VO2 max; feel free to compare it with the normal numbers that can be found on the internet. Its fun to know where you stand. Once you have your numbers, start to make them better. Ill retest at the end of this fight camp, a pro athlete would just get in the cage because the proof is in the punch. For us fans of the sport, we just get to train like a pro, and get better at being healthy. Join along; this will increase your respect for top pros. My hope is to go out and visit a few of my friends competing in the World Series of Fighting and get training beside them. In the meantime, Im going to be grinding out workouts thanks to Elite Performance. Check it out on twitter #Relentless. ' ' '