THURSDAY RODSERVATIONS FOR FRIENDS OF THE RIDERS TOUCHDOWN LOTTERY
WRAPPING IT UP
1 – The Regina Pats are the Harlem Globetrotters of the WHL. And on Wednesday evening in the Brandt Centre, the Kootenay Ice played the role of the Washington Generals. Ranked #1 in Canada earlier in the day, the Pats skated circles around the Ice and outshot them by a whopping 62-32 margin on the way to a 10-2 victory.
And I don’t think Pats fans are going to get tired of watching their club mollywhop the opposition this season. As goal after goal poured in Wednesday night, fans grinned and looked around in a daze.
“Were they outscoring teams like this in the Derkatch days?” one fan asked me. The answer is no, they weren’t, but they were pulverizing teams in a different way with the likes of Stu Grimson, Dave Michayluk and Al Tuer. It was a different game back then.
“What was the best Pats team in your time?” another fan asked. That would’ve been the 1996-97 Pats who won 47 games with five 1st round picks on their roster, but they did a faceplant in Round 1 of the WHL Playoffs.
No, the 2016-17 Regina Pats are one of the greatest Regina hockey teams of all time. They should easily surpass 50 wins.
Get out and watch The Greatest Show on Ice this Friday as they host the Saskatoon Blades, listen on 620 CKRM, or watch on Access/Shaw all across Western Canada as I’ll have the television call along with Darren Dupont.
Oh how we’ve waited for a team like this.
2 – The 5-12 Roughriders will conclude the 2016 CFL season Saturday at B.C. against the 11-6 Lions (5:00 pm Sask Time, TSN, 620 CKRM Rider Radio Network). Head Coach & GM Chris Jones mentioned on Wednesday that it’s important for the club to go out on a winning note, and “build on the positives” going into the off-season.
Darian Durant was held out of practice again on Wednesday leading me to believe that he won’t play on Saturday. That will obviously significantly hinder the club’s chances at winning.
*UPDATE* Chris Jones announced on Thursday that Durant will start Saturday at B.C.
3 – The roof will likely be closed at B.C. Place come Saturday, particularly with the forecast of rain and 13 degrees Celsius. The odds have not yet been set, but my guess is B.C. will be favoured in the neighbourhood of 6-points.
4 – Perhaps the oddsmakers are waiting for the outcome of Friday’s Winnipeg-at-Ottawa game. If Winnipeg loses, the Lions will clinch second-place and homefield in the Western Semifinal. However if the Bombers win, it’ll force a must-win situation for B.C. and set up a great showdown on the west coast against Saskatchewan. The word is the RedBlacks are going to rest some players given the fact they’ve already clinched first place in the East Division so the door is open for Winnipeg.
5 – The playoff scenarios entering the final weekend can be a little confusing. Here’s the breakdown from the CFL’s weekly Game Notes package:
– If Winnipeg wins AND BC loses, Winnipeg will host the West Semi-Final (by virtue of the tie-breaker).
– If Winnipeg wins AND BC wins, BC will host the West Semi-Final.
– If Edmonton wins and Winnipeg loses, Edmonton will visit BC in the West Semi-Final and Winnipeg will travel to Hamilton.
– If Edmonton loses or ties, they will become the cross-over club finishing 4th in the West and will visit Hamilton.
Clear as mud.
6 – Saturday’s Riders-Lions match will be the highest-attended CFL game in Vancouver this season. Already 22,000 tickets have been sold and the previous high is 22,800.
Once again, YOU’RE WELCOME!
7 – Got a kick out of the B.C. Lions’ reaction to the New Mosaic Stadium during their visit to Regina last weekend. “I just wish it had a roof,” smirked Wally Buono. I’d have to agree with that, but we simply can’t afford it.
Other members of their staff had a tour of the new stadium and the first thing they mentioned was the tiny lockers in the visitors locker room.
It’s true however. The lockers in the visitors room would barely fit a peewee football club but if enough of a fuss is made by visiting CFL teams, it’s an easy fix.
Personally I think the classy approach would be to give the visitors most of the amenities the home team enjoys. That’s the case in new stadiums in Hamilton, Winnipeg and Ottawa and is the professional way to do it.
8 – The Quote of the Week has to go to Darian Durant who was asked by a reporter on Tuesday, “Did you stop to think Saturday’s game might have been your last in this stadium?”
“It was,” Durant said stone-faced.
9 – The story of Paul McCallum re-signing with the B.C. Lions for the rest of the 2016 season was a shocking one, to say the least. McCallum watched the Farewell Game from our radio booth last Saturday and 24 hours later, he was putting pen to paper with his former club. It had to have taken him by surprise as well, but given the struggles of Lions kicker Richie Leone, the move only made since.
At 46, McCallum will not be the oldest player in CFL history. That honour belongs to the ageless Bob Cameron, who punted for the Winnipeg Blue Bombers at the age of 48.
10 – It’s unlikely the Regina Rams will attract the 16,500 who showed up for their October 1 game against the Saskatchewan Huskies for Saturday’s Canada West semifinal against UBC, but there’s no reason not to expect a crowd of 7,000-8,000.
The forecast calls for sunshine and 14 degrees Celsius which is mind-boggling for the month of November around here, and the city owes it to the Rams and first-year Head Coach Steve Bryce to show up and root their guts out.
Bryce – a former Rams lineman – came out of nowhere to lead an 0-8 club to its first-ever first place finish and the miraculous story is still being written.
Rams secondary coach Ventson Donelson came down to the CKRM studios on Wednesday to go on air and promote the game. If the players are half as fired up as “V” is, they’ll win this one going away.
Due to our Rider broadcast on Saturday, we’ll have the radio call on CKRM2, www.sportscage.ca.
11 – Our SportsCage NFL Insider Jim Lang agreed on Wednesday’s show that complaining about pro football officiating is at an all-time high. Might that have something to do with the recent advancements in video replay?
TSN’s Monday Morning Quarterback Jesse Palmer said this week, “Referees in the NFL need to be better and it needs to start now. It’s not enough to miss a call and then go back and fine him later.”
Palmer feels that if a defensive player is guilty of “targeting” an opponent in the first half, he should be disqualified for the second half. If he’s penalized for targeting in the second half, then he should miss the first half of the next game. This is the way it’s done in College Football.
I think – and have been saying it for weeks – that players should be subject to an automatic suspension for intentional head hits (a la Montreal’s Winston Venable).
However a lot of these problems would go away if players simply showed more respect for the safety of their opponent.
BUT, that apparently is never going to happen so the leagues need to take matters into their own hands.
12 – As I was writing this Wednesday night, the Chicago Cubs had captured their first World Series title since 1908 with an 8-7 victory in the 10th inning of Game 7 at Cleveland. We don’t go too deep into baseball analysis here, but it’s a heart-warming story to see the plan of Cubs President of Baseball Operations Theo Epstein come to fruition. It’s beautiful to see a story come together like that.
ESPN baseball analyst Tim Kurkjian said on Sportscenter Thursday morning that Epstein will go down as the greatest GM of all time, Joe Maddon won’t have to buy a beer in Chicago ever again, and a generation of kids in Chicago will be born with names like Jake, Kris, Dexter and Addison. This team wasn’t built to be good for two years. It was built to be good for 10 years.
It’s a script Craig Reynolds and Chris Jones would love to re-write here in Riderville.
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THAT’S IT! SEE YOU ON THE RADIO …
RP
@rodpedersen
7,000-8,000 for a Rams game ?? The times I've gone, they were lucky if there were 700-800 in attendance.
You say without Durant in as QB the Lions are favored by 6 points. I'll say if Durant is out the Lions by 26 points and if Durant is in the Lions by 26 points. The Riders looked so bad the last 2 games would surprise the Nation if they even get close in this one. See Ya next year.
As an avid fan of football and a Riders fan. I am happy this is the Riders last game in 2016. Watching this season was painful and even embarrassing at times. 2017 had better start out a lot better. If we see a repeat of this next season. I can assure you that Craig Reynolds and Chris Jones will have a much shorter career in green and white then expected. The new Stadium will be a draw for a while. However losing is like an illness and people soon want to stay away. So come next year… just win. No… Read more »
No doubt Scruffy will be coming in late this morning with a dirty hangover. Heck, the province of Saskatchewan was only three years old when the Cubs last won the world series. And we as Rider fans thought we had it bad.
I wear green colored glasses, no doubt but how people can';t see what is going on here is beyond me. Trust me. Other CFL teams see it and are worried. The secondary will be better next year and have an offseason to find one or two more guys. Muamba, Eguavoen, Jones and Knox (hopefully) to choose from at linebacker. A full season with Willie Jefferson (needed help on D line for sure). Solidifying O-Line will be a priority but getting LaBatte back will be a huge addition that we haven't had all year. Need to improve both tackles and thank… Read more »
A long painful wait for Cubs fans, enjoy the Championship. Best thing about the Cubs winning they are not the Blue Jays.
Agree Totally
Saw the picture of the small visitor cubicles. Makes you wonder what was going through the designers mind. They should be made bigger before next season begins.
You think you are the Donald Trump of Regina. I still laugh when you said the CFL refs were against the riders because of you. If you did not have Riders you would be a nobody.
Well, you would know about being a nobody.
I cant believe riders picked Roosevelt for outstanding player over Gainer. I do believe Gainer was most outstanding rider on the field game in and game out. Maybe Rod can ask coach of the year Jones about the selection of course he wont question Jones he wants to stay on the charters this year.
"Donald Trump of Regina"??? See Rod that's what you get for blaring your George Strait cassettes at 6 AM while you're doing yoga, you piss off the neighbours and they come here to trash you anonymously.
You must be doing something right. Loony lefties in Alberta are already trying to compare Jason Kenney to Trump cause if he wins and unites non-NDP voters then they'll be squashed like a bug in the next election. Lefties seem to think that if it's in the name of the party of Tommy, slanderous language is ok.
The NFL and the CFL have tweaked rules so there are more callable offenses all in the name of safety for the QB and of course the slight tug gets a PI call even if it is 2000 kilometers away from the play. I thought Video replay was a good idea until every minor offense is challenged. Now it just slows the game. Come on, if the video has to be replayed 6 times from every angle no wonder it appears the refs are not good. Yes they miss some calls but they make them at game speed not in… Read more »
The 79-80 and 83-84 Pats teams were much better than the 96-97 Pats. Maybe your opinion is biased because you called the Pats games that year?
Anyway, I think this year's team is at least as good as any of those teams. I have a feeling they'll try and get a goalie yet to actually go "all in" this year. Exciting times for the Pats.
He asked what was the best Pats team during the 15 seasons I called their games.
They don't need a goalie, they need 1 more big mobile dman and then lookout.
Pat's goal tending is solid, agree 1 more big mobile dman and we are ready to make some noise.
I also noticed the size of the visitor's lockers in the new stadium.
The Riders used to be a 'class' organization. What happened???
SWC
What coaching moves were made this year that would give fans the confidence it is going to be different next year and we are going to be a winner? Also, what players that followed Jones made an impact?
Re; Visitors dressing room, Mosaic Stadium,
Surely this is something for CFL commissioner Orridge and his office/playrs union to look into. All available provided ammenities, ie; cubicle dimensions(comfort levels), medical accessabilties, washrooms/showes, etc etc should meet or exceed code standards of a professional sports entity and its league bylaw/expecations.
Jesse Palmer also said if they banned helmets all the dirty hits would cease, he also admitted but that won't happen.
He's right on both counts.
Pats will add someone like Ethan Bear or Caleb Jones IMHO. If I was Paddock I would trade Smith for a 19 yr old 4th line center who is amazing on faceoffs and in his own end. Or a 19 year old tough left winger who is a good team guy or a sniper. Smith can sometimes get lost on defense some games and if those games happen to be in the playoffs or against stronger teams in the mem cup "if" they make it that wouldn't be good. Better teams may expose him and it's easy to get in… Read more »