A week ago on Sunday, my wife and I were sitting in this huge outdoor stadium in Nashville, Tennessee waiting for an NFL game between the Tennessee Titans and the Houston whatever they are called to begin. It was a beautiful, warm day, and you could have worn shorts. There were thousands there, maybe 80,000, I don’t know, and on every seat was attached a pink placard and everybody was handed a pink ribbon as they came into the stadium. This was their Breast Cancer day, and they do it up big down there, although you likely knew that.

The game started. And, we were excited. This was the second year we had gone to an NFL game while attending EXIT Realty’s international convention. Last year, we were in Jerry Jones’ stadium in Dallas and we got to see Tony Romo wreck his shoulder against the New York Giants, and the game was horrible, although it was fun because there were a bunch of guys from New York in front of us, and some guy from Lloydminster came down to visit us. This year, we got to see those guys from Houston absolutely annihilate the Titans, and the crowd was booing, and most of them left after the third quarter. We stayed for the whole game. “What else have we got to do?” I asked my wife.

And, at the same time, the wife and I both had the same thought. This was like watching the Saskatchewan Roughriders, Class of 2011.

And when we got back to Regina, under the cover of dark on Sunday night, and were greeted by a Canada Customs guy who said, “I saw you in Dallas last year” and we had no idea what the week would bring.

It would bring the sudden announcement by Ken Miller, who is not ageless, as none of us are, and who said he was retiring as the head coach and vice-president of the Riders as soon as Friday’s game in Edmonton is over. Ken Miller is 70 years old, and he has had enough, and he is no Joe Paterno, who is sticking around so he can be sure he has the most wins ever by anybody, including Sitting Bull and Custer. And, I say, good for Ken Miller. He leaves a great legacy. He is only the second Rider coach to take the team to back to back Grey Cups, which is no small feat, and when you remember the first coach was Eagle Keys, you applaud. He was loved by both the players and the fans, pretty well, and he was a guy of such integrity it is to hold him up as an example to your kids of what to become in life. His wife Maureen is even better. She threw herself into community work and she nurtured some of the younger players. She was part of it all, and I used to see her at various events associated with Parkinson’s Disease because she was motivated to do that. She is just one special lady, and those two, they deserve each other. And, this province was lucky to have had them for as long, and as briefly, as we did.

Ken Miller made only one big mistake in his time with the Riders. That was when he hired Greg Marshall as his successor as head coach. It blew up, and the season was lost, and even Ken Miller couldn’t rescue it.

Enough has been said about all of that, and it doesn’t matter what happens in Edmonton on Friday because if the Riders suddenly decide to show up, you can only wonder where they were when it really mattered. The players have to wear a lot of what happened this year because they are the ones, when it mattered, who didn’t make it happen. Too many times, they weren’t Ken Miller’s “men.”

But, can we forget 2011? It’s over. And, the bashing is done, and blood is spilled. And, nothing can be done about it.

If you must know, from all of this has risen the opportunity of a lifetime. It is another chance for the Phoenix to rise from the ashes, and isn’t that really the story of the Saskatchewan Roughriders. They have risen so many times; a cross should be their symbol.

They know they must re-visit the whole football side of the organization. They need somebody strong, bold and innovative as general manager. If it’s Brendan Taman, so be it. Forget Eric Tillman. He’s yesterday’s man. And, you can never go back.

They need a young and imaginative and innovative and strong head coach. Names will, and have, already surfaced. Dickenson. Milanovich. Jones. And, Marcus Crandell.

It will take a boldness to go with one of those people because they are untested as head coaches. But, they have been around, and they have accomplished much. Crandell seems to the easiest to dismiss because he has been an offensive coordinator for only one year, this season in Edmonton. But, look what’s he’s done. Don’t dismiss him so easily. He has played and coached under three of the most accomplished people in CFL history – Ron Lancaster, Kent Austin and Ken Miller. He was Darian Durant’s quarterback coach during Durian’s best years here. He was named the most outstanding player in the Grey Cup game with Calgary. Look what he has done for Ricky Ray in Edmonton, who had a lame duck season last year in Edmonton.

The Riders, rather than be wallowing in the pitfalls of this horrible season, now have the opportunity to seize the moment. How they do this will determine if they indeed will put together a team capable of getting to the Grey Cup game, when it comes to Regina. They are only one or two moves away from making it that far. But, they have to make the right moves.

Y’er welcome.