Blue might be just the tonic for Riders

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Roughriders head coach Corey Chamblin has been slapping himself in the forehead of late. (DON HEALY / POSTMEDIA NEWS ARCHIVES)

regina -- As the Saskatchewan Roughriders prepare to face the Blue and Gold, their fans are blue and the offence is cold.

This is a recording.

For the fifth successive CFL season, questions are swirling around the Roughriders as they prepare to play host to the Winnipeg Blue Bombers in the annual Labour Day Classic.

In recent years, this matchup has proven to be a tonic -- but not necessarily a panacea -- for the Roughriders, who have not lost at home to Winnipeg since 2004.

The 2008 Roughriders headed into the Classic on a two-game losing streak, which followed a 6-0 start to the season. Faced with a crisis at quarterback, the Roughriders signed the itinerant Michael Bishop, who piloted the Green and White to a 19-6 victory over Winnipeg.

Bishop was one of four quarterbacks who started for the Roughriders in 2008, when they posted a 12-6 record and staged a home playoff game -- in which they suffered a 33-12 evisceration at the hands of the B.C. Lions. Bishop was summarily released.

In 2009, the Roughriders were 4-4 before defeating Winnipeg 29-14 to begin a 6-3-1 run that propelled them into first place in the West Division.

The 2010 Roughriders entered Labour Day weekend at 5-3, but in a foul frame of mind as a consequence of a 17-14 road loss to the woeful Edmonton Eskimos. The discontent was not limited to the Saskatchewan fans.

"A lot of the grumbling came from me,'' Ken Miller, who was then the Roughriders' head coach, said at the time. "I want to win just to make me feel better.''

A 27-23 victory over Winnipeg was the catalyst for a 4-1 run, which was followed by a 1-4 skid.

Undaunted, the Roughriders won a pair of West Division playoff games and advanced to a second consecutive Grey Cup game before enduring another heartbreaking loss to the Montreal Alouettes.

Two consecutive close calls prompted the Roughriders to attempt to win the 2011 Grey Cup. An aging team was not even remotely up to the task. After a 1-7 start, head coach Greg Marshall and offensive co-ordinator Doug Berry were fired by Miller, who returned to the sidelines while remaining the vice-president of football operations.

A 27-7 Classic victory over Winnipeg triggered a three-game winning streak that proved to be as intoxicating as it was illusory. Saskatchewan lost the next five games en route to finishing the season with a league-worst 5-13 record.

And now, the Roughriders are experiencing another dizzying descent after a three-game winning streak. A 3-0 start to the 2012 season has been followed by five straight losses.

This, too, is a recording. We saw this act in the second half of last season, obligatory as it proved to be.

Wasn't this year supposed to be different? It certainly looked that way at the outset. The offence, led by a rejuvenated Darian Durant at quarterback, was purring. The defence was the league's best after three weeks. You know the rest.

By the time the Roughriders and Bombers kick off on Sunday at 3 p.m., 50 days will have elapsed since Saskatchewan last celebrated a victory, whatever that is. Last season's longest drought was 42 days, although that dry spell (unlike the current one) did not include a bye week.

Regardless, the Roughriders have reached a point where they are precariously close to establishing the team's longest streak of futility since the Y2K era.

Saskatchewan has not lost six or more games in a row since the bottom fell out after a 42-17 victory over Winnipeg on Labour Day weekend in 1999. Those Roughriders then lost their final nine games of the regular season. The 2000 Roughriders extended the losing streak to 12 before erupting for a tie, which was followed by three more losses.

Back then, the Roughriders were building something under general manager Roy Shivers and head coach Danny Barrett. The losses were understandable, because the Roughriders' new regime was starting from scratch.

The same could be said of the 2012 Roughriders, whose football-operations side is led by general manager Brendan Taman and head coach Corey Chamblin.

Given the degree of change in Riderville, where more than half of last year's roster has been overhauled, it is not surprising to see the team approach mid-season with a 3-5 record.

What is surprising, though, is the manner in which the 3-5 slate has been assembled.

Three consecutive victories, followed by five losses, have led to considerable slapping of foreheads.

Instead of improving in incremental fashion, the Roughriders are sliding.

But the best solution might be found on the schedule.

Winnipeg at Saskatchewan, Sunday afternoon, Mosaic Stadium.

Works every time.

-- Regina Leader-Post

Republished from the Winnipeg Free Press print edition September 1, 2012 C2