10 THINGS I THINK I THINK
10 Things I Think I Think
1 – Capital Gains: Roughriders DB Ed Gainey was named a CFL Player of the Week and is the toast of the town for the week after his four interception, pick six, and fumble recovery performance in Sunday’s 41-8 blowout win over BC.
And after mugging for the TSN cameras with multiple shoutouts to Capital GMC during the telecast, Gainey drove off the Capital lot with a Cadillac XT5 on Tuesday.
As Capital salesman Don Narcisse winked, “Ed put me on the map!” with his personal plugs to a national TV audience.
2 – It begs the question: “Does every Roughrider get a free car if he mentions Capital Auto Mall on TSN?”
However Gainey’s antics got the thumbs-down from In The Huddle co-host Marshall Hamilton who said on Tuesday’s TV show that it was shameless self-promotion by Ed.
Marshall added though, “If you get four interceptions, sure you can get a car. It’s only happened once in 100 years!”
3 – Will the real Roughriders please stand up? This is a mind-bogglingly unpredictable bunch. Their blowout win over the Lions didn’t surprise me at all, because I’ve been waiting for it all season. However if they’d lost by 33 points, I wouldn’t have been surprised by that either. We’ve been teased by this group a lot this season but if they upset the Eskimos in Edmonton on August 25, I’ll be convinced that they’ve arrived.
4 – The trade for Montreal quarterback Vernon Adams on Tuesday wasn’t a shock either, as the trade had been in the works for months. One rumour making the rounds was that the Alouettes badly wanted to acquire WR Rob Bagg but the Riders refused to part with the coveted vet.
What does the trade mean? Plenty of things, but we were assured by the Riders John Murphy on Tuesday’s SportsCage that none of the current Rider QBs need to worry about their job.
5 – The beauty for the Roughriders is that they now have plenty of options for the future at the QB position and that includes all of Kevin Glenn, Brandon Bridge, Marquise Williams and now Adams. Of course Edmonton QB James Franklin is expected to be dangling in free agency and the popular rumour is that Saskatchewan will make a hard play for him this winter.
Don’t forget Chris Jones brought Franklin into the CFL in 2015. Who knows who will lead the Riders in 2018? But that’s way too far away to imagine. Things are just getting interesting now!
Incidentally all four quarterbacks on the Rider roster make a combined wage less than Darian Durant’s salary in Montreal!
6 – Much has been made of Wally Buono’s pregame speech to the disinterested Lions prior to Sunday’s game. The CFL’s all-time winningest coach just knew that his team wasn’t going to show up to compete and he was right.
Now the hot rumour making the rounds is who will take over the Lions once the 67-year old Buono retires (expected after this season)? The usual suspects – Brendan Taman and Jim Barker – have had their names surface but perhaps the Lions will go completely off the board.
One thing seems clear: There will be a major changing-of-the-guard in BC in 2018.
7 – CFL Commissioner Randy G Ambrosie reminds me of Giancarlo Stanton at the MLB All-Star Game: just crushing one pitch after another out-of-the-park. His decision to unveil the CFL’s Diversity Is Strength campaign early due to the recent racial unrest in the USA has garnered international headlines.
My American friends are filling my inbox wanting to get their hands on one of those T-Shirts. I’m not sure what it means for our league, but Americans are tuning into CFL games on ESPN in droves this year. Perhaps the league’s popularity in the USA will finally make the CFL “cool” in Toronto.
How warped is that?
8 – What was greater than seeing Commissioner Ambrosie go for a spin on a combine during last weekend’s visit to Regina? The Riders searched for a farm with Case machinery due to their Founding Partnership with Young’s Equipment, and quickly found a farm just south of Regina. It was magnificent to see.
9 – Word came out this week that Ambrosie said he’s “open” to discussions of CFL playoff realignment whereby the East-West format is scrapped in favour of a “Top 6” tournament. Personally I hope the Commissioner leaves it the way it is because this country is split into an East and a West and its football league should be too.
It seems to me that people around here are just trying to find a creative way to get the Roughriders into the playoffs.
10 – The Regina Pats unveiled their 100th Season logo on Monday and it gets two thumbs-up from me. At first I was underwhelmed but upon further inspection, I feel it’s clean, classy and iconic. Just like the franchise itself.
Meanwhile I’d heard a rumour the Pats planned to overhaul 50% of their roster as they prepare to host the 2018 Memorial Cup but boss John Paddock told me at the Royal Regina Golf Club that he only figures to add “3 or 4” new players.
Hockey is in the air! And they’ve sold a club record 5,000 season tickets.
Y’er welcome,
RP
@rodpedersen
