The Saskatchewan Roughriders have learned many valuable lessons over the past few seasons: How to win, how not to take a 22-point lead for granted, how to count to 12 (we think).But one of the most important teachings had apparently been overlooked until Saturday.Be careful what you wish for because sometimes you're not even going to come close to getting it.It was less than a month ago that head coach Ken Miller boasted his team's new goal was to average scoring a point a minute.That came on the heels of Saskatchewan's come-from-behind 54-51 win over the Montreal Alouettes in the July 1 season opener.Saturday the Riders were shellacked 40-20 by the Calgary Stampeders, putting the exclamation point on an offensive tailspin that has began in Week 1.In the midst of the public outcry that followed Miller's comments, he tried to spin the situation as a coach merely setting a lofty target for his players, not cockiness.Coming from the face of a franchise that won a Grey Cup in 2007, started 6-0 in 2008, and by all accounts was the better team in a losing effort at last year's Grey Cup, it came off as pure arrogance.Ken Miller is not a cocky guy, and there is nothing wrong with aiming high.Suggesting your team can average over a whole season something that only 28 teams all-time have managed in even a single game, however, is a recipe for disaster.And unfortunately the rest of the team bought into the hype.Running back Wes Cates and offensive co-ordinator Doug Berry both openly supported their coach's comments.The Riders then went out and scored 37 points against an abysmal B.C. Lions team.In Week 3 they fluked into a 24-20 win over the Edmonton Eskimos, a game where most of their points were the product of bad penalties and untimely fumbles by the opposition.And yet the team and their supporters in the Regina media continued to insist all was well because the Roughriders were 3-0.That brought us to Saturday.In many ways, the loss to Calgary may be exactly what the Roughriders need to come back down to Earth.For my money though I think they're capable of holding their opponents off the scoreboard for the rest of the season.Just once Brad Brown would like to see someone somewhere admit that lower crime stats were a result of less effective law enforcement, or that higher crime stats were a result of more criminals in town. Brad can be reached by phone at 634-2654 or by e-mail at [email protected].
