SCRUFFY’S THIS ‘N THAT
Welcome to Friday and the usual thoughts running through my muddled mind. As always, they come in no particular order:
1 – Craig Reynolds has everyone talking. The Riders CEO let it be known on Sportscage Monday that the Riders are bidding to host the 2020 Grey Cup. Bidding? HA!! If you’re like me, you have to think this will be a done deal.
The CFL must be salivating at holding the big game at Mosaic Stadium for the first time. They know what Regina has done in the past, and now they have a fancy stadium to play the biggest game of the year in. I don’t really know how the league could say ‘no’.
Yes, at some point Hamilton will have to have a Grey Cup again as it has been over 20 years, but I just don’t see it happening in 2020. I don’t know if we can have a storybook ending like we had in 2013, but there’s only one way to find out! Meanwhile, I will pencil Sunday, November 22, 2020 down as a date where I will be busy that day.
2 – The Rod Black hate went to another level this past Sunday when the Alouettes took on the Riders. His love for Johnny Manziel was way over-the-top for many of you, and yes you can include me in that as well. Let’s not talk about the birds. This just heaps on to the criticism that Black takes on a week-to-week basis. Many would like to see him removed from CFL telecasts, but it isn’t happening.
Why is that? It is because the network has no desire to remove him from his current gig. If they did. I am guessing it would have happened years ago as this negativity did not just spring up overnight. The question I have is who would you replace him with? Like it or not, there aren’t many options. Chris Cuthbert’s love for the CFL has to be the only reason he continues doing games especially once the NHL season starts. Chris really doesn’t take much of a break during the year and you should be thankful for that. Gord Miller has done games but like Cuthbert, he is a hockey guy as well. Rod Smith is a possibility, but perhaps he or network brass don’t want him doing games on a week-to-week basis knowing his strength is keeping the panel in check. You can moan about Black all you want, but he isn’t going anywhere until TSN decides it and I don’t see that happening. By the way, you won’t meet a better and more outgoing individual than Black. I know that likely doesn’t mean a lot, but just sayin’ there are worse individuals out there.
3 – Imagine what it would be like if Manziel was a member of the Leafs. Actually I don’t have to imagine it, because John Tavares is simply playing the role of Manziel and the coverage is over the top. If you didn’t hate the Leafs before……….
4 – Holiday Monday football at Mosaic. I’m all for it. Stuff yourself with turkey on Sunday and watch Riders football on Monday afternoon. I am down with that. I am guessing Rider Nation is down with it too as a win (one by more than seven points) would go a long ways to nailing down that much-coveted home playoff game. A loss and we could conceivably have a three-way tie for 2nd with three weeks to go. Have the playoffs started already? Did I miss something?
5 – Week 5 NFL Lock of the Week — Saints over Redskins
Week 5 NFL Upset of the Week — Vikings over Eagles
6 – When you have been suspended three times in 100 days for your actions on the ice, you knew Tom Wilson would be told “enough is enough” by the NHL and he was. The Capitals forward was handed a 20 game suspension for his blind-side hit to the head of St. Louis’ Oskar Sundqvist last weekend. Sorry Tom, the game isn’t played like that anymore. The hit was dirty and malicious in nature. Wilson wasn’t trying to simply knock Sundqvist off the puck, he was trying to hurt him and in this day and age you can’t do that anymore. Yes, some will say this continues hockey on the path of “wussification” as Mike Milbury said years ago and yes, I wonder if a player like Scott Stevens would have survived in the game the way it is played today. On the last one I said yes because he would have had to evolve. As a result of his 20 game suspension, Wilson will basically play for free this year. He has no one to blame for that but himself.
7 – The debate on the roughing the passer rule in the NFL continues and it won’t be going away. Former NFL referee Terry McAuley, who I believe sits in the Monday Night Football booth, had a great point while talking to Dan Patrick this week. McAuley asked why it is the NFL doesn’t get the NCAA to adopt the same rules seeing they are the players who will be NFL’ers one day. If you start the rule in college, players will know what they can and can’t do once they hit the NFL. It is done in hockey and other sports so why not football. Great question! One also wonders if the CFL will be looking at similar rules to protect the quarterback moving forward. I hope not. As stated before, I think the NFL went wayyyy too far with this rule. It does seem as if they are dialing it back just a little though.
8 – The baseball playoffs are still great as evidenced by Game 1 of the NLDS between Colorado and Milwaukee. I think the Boston-Yankees series will be tremendous, and I think the Yankees spoil Boston’s 108 win season because that is what New York does. The playoffs did lose some lustre for yours truly when the Cubs were bounced Tuesday night, but they have no one to blame for that but themselves. To be up by 5 games on September 1, have the best record in the National League with two games to play and then proceed to score one run in a tiebreaker game and a wild-card game tells me you completed an epic choke job. That one leaves a mark.
9 – Just to abandon the sports talk for a little news talk: Let me just say that at a time where many are clamoring for a grocery store downtown, there are two spots you could put one on Broad. One is where the old Travellers Building is and the other is where the old Langs Cafe is. You can knock down the neighbouring Wonderland Arcade building seeing it won’t be re-opening and put something of substance there. Does downtown Regina really need two more Impark lots?
That’s all I got. Have a great weekend! Happy Thanksgiving!
