Riders open pre-season with win

In the unlikely event that anyone is waiting with bated breath, here are my thoughts on last night's 23-22 win by Saskatchewan over Edmonton in CFL pre-season action.

• Cole Berquist impresses me. However, at the end of training camp I believe he'll still be below Ryan Dinwiddie on the Riders' quarterback depth chart, unfortunately.
  
• A big thumbs-up for Marc Mueller, who took CFL snaps for the Eskies on the same field his grandfather (Ron Lancaster) owned.
  
• The kid acquitted himself well, completing all three passes he threw for 45 yards, and making a tackle. Attaboy Marc!
• Marc's mother Lana sat near us last night, looking resplendent in her #14 Eskimos jersey, and some mouth-breather actually had the audacity to yell out "He's gonna get cut!" when she took her seat. What a moronic comment, which I'm assuming suits the person who made it.
• If Larry (Marc's dad and Lana's husband) wasn't in the spotter's booth, do you think there would have been some pre-game fireworks in the stands?
  
• Darren Szabo was the best of the two finalists who auditioned for the public address gig. The other guy rarely told us the down and distance - kinda important little tidbits of information, actually.
• The situation south of the stadium (where drivers leaving the parking lots along the train tracks collide - not literally, usually - with pedestrians walking and/or stumbling all over the road after every game) is a tragedy waiting to happen. Something seriously needs to be done before someone gets killed.
  
• Thumbs-up to the folks who passed along the information that helped the police nab the bozo driver who knocked down a pedestrian following last night's game. Again, something needs to be done.
• As for the action on the field: Hugh Charles scored a punt return touchdown. For the Riders. Yes, apparently such things are possible.
• Saskatchewan's pass rush was non-existent. That worries me.
• Mind you, we'll get a better idea of who's who and what's what in the second pre-season game, after a few prospects have been sent home.
• I'd probably holding off on ordering a replica Chris Leak jersey if I were you. Just a thought.
• Alert me when the games start counting in the standings. Until then, it's just a glorified scrimmage.