10 WEEKEND THINGS

Taking Shots …

1 – YA BUT: Don’t be a member of the “Ya But” crowd. I don’t like them. The Saskatchewan Roughriders got a dearly-needed 23-16 victory at BC on Friday night but the critics, including many citizens of the Rider Nation, have been saying, “Ya but they did it against BC’s third string quarterback!” It says here it’s very difficult to win in the CFL and given all that the Riders have been through this season, any victory is not to be discounted.

It’s not too dissimilar from those who say, regarding Saskatchewan’s 23-19 victory in the 2007 Grey Cup, “Ya but they wouldn’t have won if Kevin Glenn hadn’t broken his arm in the East Final.” Better yet is my new favourite regarding Canada’s 3-2 OT win over Finland in last weekend’s World Junior Championship gold medal game; “Ya but Canada wouldn’t have won without Mason McTavish’s game-saving play moments before the game-winner.”

Ya, I don’t like those people.

2 – JONES & FAJARDO: If I was still earning a paycheque in the CFL, I’d be playing the hell out of the “feud” between Chris Jones and Chris Fajardo. To me, it’s like good versus evil but ironically, they both have their fair share of haters.  Jones I get, but how couldn’t you like my Cody??

Anyway, after observing the two from near and afar for years I’ve determined that each has their buttons pushed in different ways. Cheering against or scorning Jones only fires him up to achieve more. He shoved it down everyone’s throats when he spent two seasons with the Cleveland Browns and then in less than a year he was coaching high school football in Tennessee. (A mighty kick to the pills). And then he resurfaced again as the top dog in Edmonton and does anyone really think he won’t restore that franchise to prominence? In the end, he doesn’t care what anyone thinks about him and I love that. Life has ups and downs. You gonna crawl into a corner and cry or come back stronger?

Fajardo, on the other hand, gets motivated by the haters (we all do) but it seems pretty clear he doesn’t care for the noise. Jones doesn’t even hear it. Believe me. Yet Cody addresses it often in the media. He responds more to positive enforcement but unfortunately a lot in the Rider Nation refuse to give it to him. Those fans are happy to see him struggle because it proves them right.

Warped.

In the end Jones and Fajardo are both winners because each week they’re back under the lights. Get knocked down seven times and stand up eight. 

3 – #FINSUP: The RP Show and this blog will be taking a bit of a different tone in the fall as we cover the NFL with a front row seat, plus college football and of course the NHL. I realized a year ago it’s not that hard to cover the NFL and, with this past weekend’s kickoff of the NCAA, it’s not that hard to cover college football either. Both have their fair share of noobs in the media, just like Canada.

In fact I dipped my toe in the water of college football coverage this weekend and almost got sucked under water by the undertow. They CANNOT GET ENOUGH college football coverage in the USA. It’s pretty similar to Canada and the sport of hockey, but that’s hella more of it.

Variety is the spice of life.

4 – BACK TO THE DOLPHINS: It dawned on me too that I’ve got quite a few friends in the NFL and NCAA ranks as both coaches and players, including Miami linebacker Sam Eguavoen. The former Roughrider (2016-18) barely came off the field in Saturday night’s 48-10 beatdown of the Philadelphia Eagles (sorry Darnell Therres of RoxDar Supply Chain Solutions). Sam took more snaps than anyone else on defense, plus lined up on kickoff return, kickoff cover, punt return and field goal defend. He led the Dolphins in tackles (4), assisted tackles (3) and sacks (1). 

But I’ve been around enough to know all that P.T. (Playing Time) isn’t necessarily a good thing. I’ve seen it happen at the end of many a Rider training camps only to see a vet who played most of Game 2 get released. I’m not saying that’s going to happen to Sam, but with his favourite head coach Brian Flores out of the picture, I’ll be watching the Dolphins cutdown.

5 – TIMES HAVE CHANGED: Give me the good old days when a pair of boobs were a couple of dumb guys and a joint was a bad place to be.

6 – STILL GOT THE COVERAGE: Notre Dame Hounds voice Jamie Neugebauer is referred to as the “Elliott Friedman of the SJHL” (not sure who started that, but I love it) and he graciously provided this preseason ranking of the Saskatchewan Junior Hockey League as training camps opened this weekend. Read ’em and weep:

1) Battlefords, 2) Melfort, 3) Estevan, 4) Flin Flon, 5) Humboldt, 6) Melville, 7) La Ronge, 8) Notre Dame, 9) Nipawin, 10) Weyburn, 11) Yorkton and 12) Kindersley.

7 – DUB HUB: Not to be outdone, I’ve conducted a poll of WHL East Division enthusiasts and these are the final results of that tabulation: 1) Winnipeg, 2) Moose Jaw, 3) Brandon, 4) Saskatoon, 5) Regina, and 6) Prince Albert.

Can’t disagree, and with Regina Pats training camp having opened and not many new weapons to skate with Connor Bedard, you’d have to think the Bedard Watch is on.

8 – BOYS IN THE HORNS: I fear it could be a long fall and winter in the Queen City for some of the sports teams. In the Canada West Football annual Coaches Poll released last week, here are the rankings: 1) Saskatchewan, 2) Manitoba, 3) UBC, 4) Calgary, 5) Alberta, and 6) Regina. Head coach Mark McConkey has his hands full. Has the program ever really done much since Frank McCrystal called it a career? I suppose they did some good things under Steve Bryce but he was shown the door. Tough times.

9 – BABS: On the topic of USports, Mike Babcock made headlines on both sides of the border this week when he announced his resignation as head coach of the U of S Mens Hockey team. It got people buzzing as to what Babs’ future is, but the timing certainly is odd. My phone buzzed after the Huskies announcement that Babcock may be in line to take over the Brandon Wheat Kings General Manager role but that could just be idle chat, and the always-wonderful rumour mill. I asked a close friend of Babcock’s if he could see the Brandon thing happening and the response was, “Not really, but I didn’t think he’d go to Saskatoon either.” So we wait ….

10 – RANDOM THOUGHTS: Who would’ve thunk going into the year that Bo Levi Mitchell might’ve made his last career start before Labour Day? It would be strange seeing him as the #2 for the rest of the season but John Hufnagel will do what’s best for the franchise. Does Bo ask for a trade? I bet he does. … Remember Carly Rae Jepson? … And Helen Hunt? … Tom Brady has earned the right to take 11 days away from training camp and for nobody to know why. This notion of public people not being allowed a private life is b.s. … I’ve deduced that college football is so rabid in the USA – especially Florida – because it’s been around since 1906 while the NFL teams didn’t come for many decades later like the Miami Dolphins (1966) and Tampa Bay Buccaneers (1976). When you consider the NBA didn’t arrive until the late 80’s in Florida and the NHL & MLB didn’t come till the 90’s, you’re starting to see why college sports is actually #1. … Well, the NFL is #1 but NCAA is #1A. …. We can cover all the leagues quite effectively on the RP Show but I really enjoy the NHL luxury suites and press boxes in Edmonton, Calgary and NFL & NHL suites in Florida. … On Saturday night I was lucky enough to watch with the Dolphins players families in a suite at Hard Rock Stadium. Don’t ask! Very grateful and somebody’s looking out for me. … Keep your chin up!

Y’er welcome,
RP
@rodpedersen