SCRUFFY’S THIS ‘N THAT

Welcome to Friday and the usual assortment of things running through my muddled mind.   As always, these come in no particular order:

— Will the Saskatchewan Roughriders come back from Winnipeg with first-place in their backpocket? They can if they capitalize on their opportunities unlike last week and if Chris Streveler plays like Chris Streveler. The Bombers will be a tougher team at home with their home crowd behind them, but unless they jump out to a big lead I don’t see the Riders losing this one. Especially if they take the same approach as they did in the LDC and get a better effort from their offense. 

Yes, Cody Fajardo did take the team down the field in the dying moments to set up Brett Lauther’s game-winning field goal, but the chances the Riders squandered were almost their downfall. That simply can’t happen in Winnipeg. 

— CFL Coach of the Year as it stands right now—-Craig Dickenson! 

— If the BC Lions are serious about making football relevant again in Vancouver, Ed Hervey has to be shown the door at the end of the season if not before. I wonder what Wally Buono is thinking when he sees the mess that has been created. 

— Bianca Andrescu will have the eyes of a country on her Saturday afternoon (except for maybe Saskatchewan). She will get another shot at Serena Williams in the US Open women’s final in a match that will start at the same time as the Banjo Bowl. C’mon TSN, move the start time of the Banjo Bowl to 4 PM.  Yeah, I know that won’t happen, but hey a game was moved up for the Raptors in the NBA Finals so who knows. 

— Andrescu is creating quite the story for herself. The 19 year old has to be a shoo-in for not only the Canadian female athlete of the year, but the Canadian athlete of the year. How can she not especially if she wins. 

A few weeks ago I said her win in Montreal was hollow because Serena retired early in the match preventing us from knowing if Bianca could beat her or not. There will be no excuses on Saturday.

— If there has been a worse NFL opener in recent memory please tell me what it was. That Packers-Bears game was tough to watch.  That problem shouldn’t occur Sunday with so many games on the menu. 

— Week 1 NFL Lock of the Week — Saints over Texans 

    Week 1 NFL Upset of the Week —Falcons over Vikings 

— I don’t know if the Oakland Raiders could get a 6 pack of Chicken McNuggets for Antonio Brown right now. Talk about a move that has blown up in your face. I have to wonder if the helmet Brown seeks has caused him some brain problems because the man is just lost right now. One has to think Mike Tomlin and the Steelers organization are just sitting back, watching the circus and laughing as hard as they can. Why wouldn’t they be? 

— How should one spend their Friday night in Regina? May I suggest a trip to Mosaic Stadium to watch the Rams and Alberta as Steve Bryce’s crew will go bear hunting. There is no reason to think Regina shouldn’t be 2-0 at around 10:30 Friday night. They will be if they put in a performance like they did in Vancouver. This team has a lot of talent that is going to be around for a while so go check them out if you can. Game time is 7 PM. 

— There continue to be whispers about a ballpark where the railyards stand. I just don’t see it happening.  How much would it cost to clean up those railyards?  Would the city allow for a new ballpark if it should happen to go where the old Taylor Field was?  Yes, I know the plan is for something else, but that plan doesn’t seem to be moving very quickly right now. Let’s hope the site of Taylor Field doesn’t remain undeveloped as long as the Capital Pointe hole.  

— How much longer until Cougars basketball starts? 

— Milan Lucic did not take a swipe at Connor McDavid with his comments this week.  Get over it Oilers fans! 

— If NHL owners decided not to opt out of the current CBA, the players should do the same thing so we can have labour harmony in the sport for a while longer. NHL players aren’t suffering with the deal currently in place. 

— That’s all I got. Have yourselves a great weekend!