Here's to a swift kick out the door to the pre-season and all that comes with it. 70+ players on game day rosters, the in and out and in and out of swapping players back and forth. Pre-season is for the coaches to evaluate the team but now that it's over, it's nice we'll see 42 players take their place on the sideline. (Though it may sound like I hate pre-season football, I still want some games on TV over Poker or classic boxing, I thought this is what TSN 2 was for)

Now that that's over with, I do have some thoughts on last night's exhibition finale for the Riders. 27-19 should have been a lot closer, like 20-19. Casey McGahee's fumbled punt that ended up in the Rider endzone for a Stamp touchdown is something nobody but Calgary wants to see as the final evaluation on a player, especially one that the coaching staff was hoping to keep around as a full time returner.

Eric Morris looked good as a returner as well and as a receiver in the pre-season, so maybe its his job but he bobbled a few returns as well, none however ended up hurting the Riders. So with that, will I be surprised if Weston Dressler fields the first kick or punt return in 2009 for the Riders... NOPE.

Kitwana Jones, who??? Stevie Baggs is pretty fun to watch isn't he? Baggs motor is full throttle 100% of the time and he's having fun in Saskatchewan. I like what Ken Miller said to me last night when I asked him if Baggs if filling the energy role of Maurice Lloyd and he said Baggs is a tremendous energy player and will provide leadership not to be compared with anyone. That shows me two things. Coach doesn't want to hear the name Maurice Lloyd and Baggs has impressed in a big way.

Notable mention to John Chick on providing a rush from the end, he was in Henry Burris' face at least four times and is showing how much the Riders missed him for most of last season.

Darian Durant = starter. No doubt and that is a good thing too because nobody wants a quarterback controversy to start the season. It's nice to have Steven Jyles on the sidelines to give the coaching staff a confident second option.

The running back depth on the Riders is looking tremendous! Hugh Charles was Wes Cates Lite last night and Stu Foord was good in the first pre-season game. Wes Cates injury doesn't help the Riders but it is nice to see players step up for the short term.

Now to the bad news. Gene Makowsky lost for a few weeks is a big loss with an o-line already without Wayne Smith for the season. Chris Best will step in with Jordan Rempel behind him now on the depth chart. Losing a two time CFL Most Outstanding Offensive Lineman is a bad way to start the year but the seasoning Best has been getting with the Riders the last few seasons will be of great benefit.

Henry Burris and Joffrey Reynolds were attacking the edges of the Riders defense last night and we'll likely see a lot of that for the season with the smaller linebackers and an inexperienced Donovan Alexander playing corner. Nobody will be able to attack the Riders up the middle as both Scott Schultz and Marcus Adams are locking it down with Rey Williams behind them.

Now it's cut down day for the Riders as they'll have to get the 46 man roster and practice roster spots to the league by Thursday morning. The team has a pretty clear picture of who will make the team but tough day to start telling players "Here's your ticket home"

I'll be writing down what I think the Riders will look like in 2009 just for fun. And also remind myself how hard it is for CFL teams to figure out who goes where when you have a non-import/import ratio to uphold.