10 Weekend Things

Taking shots …

1 – RIDER SLIDE: The Saskatchewan Roughriders have lost four of their last five games following Friday’s 41-12 loss at Montreal. The Als scored on their first drive, and led 7-3, 17-3, and 31-3 by quarter. It was an epic beatdown and left many in the Rider Nation scratching their heads as to why. The slide coincides with the loss of #1 quarterback Trevor Harris, but can it all be pinned on that? Many teams – including Montreal – have been winning with back-up quarterbacks this season. No, the problems run much deeper and, I suppose, much higher, than Trevor Harris.

Are you really surprised? I’m not. We called this happening over a year ago, longggg before the team tied a can to quarterback Cody Fajardo and offensive coordinator Jason Maas, and said they were the problem. Apparently there are no mirrors at Mosaic Stadium.

Finger pointing gets you nowhere, and just buys you time. I do however feel bad for Craig Dickenson, whom I feel is a great coach who got caught up in a bad situation.

2 – VIVE MONTREAL!: Death, taxes, and Cody Fajardo winning. Those are your guarantees in life folks. However Friday night, Fajardo was a last minute scratch due to injury. I talked to him, and he wanted to play, but Alouettes head coach Jason Maas kept him out thinking they could beat Saskatchewan with Caleb Evans, and wanted to save Fajardo for the bigger games down the line. He was right! And that’s the beauty in having a quarterback as a head coach; Maas knows Fajardo inside out and knew he wasn’t fit to play, despite his protestations. The player will always want to play, especially Cody. They’ve got something special brewing in Montreal and remember TSN’s Matt Dunigan predicted a Winnipeg-Montreal Grey Cup prior to the season.

3 – ANGRY TWEETS: In the social media era, you don’t need to listen to the postgame shows nor wait for the the newspapers to get quality analysis. For instance, for those going along with the narrative that the Riders were too played out due to so much travel in recent weeks, Hall of Famer Jeff Fairholm Tweeted, “@slotback18: I am so sick of hearing the excuses of the Riders being exhausted. They are professionals who should be taking care of their bodies.” Meanwhile CJME’s Belton Johnson Tweeted, “@bjizzle: I’m so ANGRY with this Riders team… Is this the worse game Riders have played this season so far?!? They look defeated!!!” You can get outstanding commentary from across the CFL, NFL, NHL, etc. if you know where to find it and THAT’S what sports fans are clamouring for in this new age. I love it! That’s one of the reasons I brought Scruffy back to write for this website; he gives quality, unbiased analysis of all these leagues and I respect him immensely.

4 – THE REST: This wasn’t the best of weeks for the CFL with three lopsided games so far – WPG 38 EDM 29, BC 37 CGY 9 and MTL 41 SK 12, however that Bombers/Elks clash was scintillating in that Edmonton built up a 22-0 lead before blowing it and losing by nine. We were all on the edge of our seats in that one. … The 22-game home losing streak for Edmonton is easily the top story in football right now, as is the Elks’ 0-9 record. It’s beyond calamitous and if you’re the Elks Board of Directors, I’m guessing they have ZERO clue what to do next. … The Stampeders are 3-6 and while the alarm bells may be sounding within McMahon Stadium, they are not across Cowtown. The football types I hang with feel the final third of the season is all that matters and they have faith that John Hufnagel, Dave Dickenson, Jake Maier & Co. will figure it out in time to make the playoffs, and make a Grey Cup run. … They should have an Owner of the Year Award in the CFL and for that matter, all pro leagues. In the CFL it would be BC’s Amar Doman. In the NHL it would be Las Vegas’s Bill Foley. In the NFL it would be Kansas City’s Clark Hunt.

5 – 1998: Friday night when the Stampeders host the Winnipeg Blue Bombers, the Stamps will honour the 1998 Grey Cup champions. It’s actually the buzz of the city with the likes of Jeff Garcia and Wally Buono coming back for a weekend of celebration. Google the roster of that team and you’ll swallow your tongue – Darryl Hall, Alondra Johnson, Shonte Peoples, Kelvin Anderson, Henry Burris, Eddie Davis and on, and on, and on. THIS is what you do to hit the “feels” of your fanbase. Can’t wait!!

We’ll be giving away tickets for the clash this week on the RP Show courtesy Century Downs and the Calgary Stampeders.

6 – “THE LEAGUE”: The NFL’s done it to themselves, although I’m certain they don’t care. For some reason over the years I ran myself ragged trying to stay on top of all the NFL preseason results and stats however my football guys have given permission to skip that until the regular season. They are. Due to fear of injury, plus all the training camp holdouts, the studs aren’t playing in August and the preseason is now being referred to as “fake games”. Having said that, check the highlights of the Jaguars/Cowboys game from Saturday where rookie Jacksonville QB Nathan Rourke made the most unbelievable play, and TD pass, you may see all season. Nathan may have earned himself top back-up status to Trevor Lawrence with that one.

7 – NHL BUZZ: A couple of years ago I mentioned in this space that I wanted to live in an NHL market before I die, after spending a great half century in Sask. And it’s WONDERFUL! Whether the buzz is accurate or not, I don’t care. It’s just fascinating. For instance, this week I heard the Toronto Maple Leafs hired Shane Doan in their front office as a means to retain Auston Matthews since his contract is soon to expire. (Similar to what the Oilers did last week, hiring Connor McDavid’s agent Jeff Jackson in their front office). To me however, if the player wants to leave, he’s going to leave no matter how many of his friends you bring on board. I guess we’ll see. … Other gossip suggests the Arizona Coyotes are as good as gone … to Houston. … But wait — didn’t Gary Bettman say at the Draft that the NHL remains committed to the Phoenix area? Again, I guess we’ll see. … But that would throw a slight kink into the notion of Auston Matthews signing with his hometown Coyotes. … I’ll see more of these types at Theoren Fleury’s Breaking Free Foundation charity golf classic on Thursday. I’ll be hosting the festivities at The Winston. Breaking Free provides free counselling for trauma victims. Betcha didn’t know that about Theo.

8 – HUSKA: RP Show viewers have been clamouring for Calgary Flames personnel to appear on the show. Ask and you shall receive! Be sure to tune in this Wednesday at 10:20 am MT/12:20 pm ET as new Flames Head Coach Ryan Huska will join us live in person at Century Downs Racetrack & Casino. The Flames aren’t struggling to sell tickets but they could use some good PR and it’ll be good for Flames fans to get to know “Husk” because he’s a cool cat. As mentioned here last week, Ryan and I were with Team Canada at the 2012 World Junior Hockey Championship and he said he’s looking forward to catching up! I couldn’t be more grateful to the Flames for lining this up.

9 – QUEEN CITY BACK ON TOP: We received the latest ratings & analytics for The RP Show and here are the Top 5 cities for viewership over the last month – 1) Regina, 2) Ottawa, 3) Winnipeg, 4) Calgary, 5) Toronto. A true national show. If you recall in January, we were informed viewership had increased 300% year-over-year and it remains the highest-rated talkshow on Game+TV. THANK YOU! It’s on Telus Channel 924 in Alberta & BC and Bell/MTS Channel 1190 in Manitoba, as well as WQEE Radio in Atlanta where you can Listen Live daily at 10 am MT here: Your Southern Home of Sports & Talk – WQEE Radio.

10 – RANDOM THOUGHTS: Kudos to both the Humboldt Broncos and GM/Head Coach Scott Barney on agreeing to a new 5-year deal. He’s first class! … Names kicking around to be the next GM/Head Coach of the Yorkton Terriers include Chris Lewgood and Wayne Labrie. … Imagine a Saskatoon Berry Pie Blizzard. … Saw a Twitter fight break out over Sask Premier Scott Moe having a Dairy Queen Blizzard pic photoshopped on his desk at the Legislature. Wow! … When the Riders are losing, everybody’s mad. … I like Ken Jennings as Jeopardy host. … Also, very much currently enjoying the Animal Planet channel. … Why is gas $0.25 cheaper per litre in Strathmore than in Swift Current? …. Why do these fools keep trying to take on The Rock in all these movies? The Rock’s always gonna win. … Act like an ass on Twitter, get blocked, then wonder why. …. On Saturday I got to ride in the pace truck at Century Downs for the annual Ralph Klein Memorial and it was heart-pounding! … AND HOW WAS YOUR WEEK?

Y’er welcome,
RP
@rodpedersen