THE MONDAY MORNING GOALIE FOR CAMECO

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14 RANDOMS

1 – It started out as a great evening, and it pretty much ended as one too.  However there were some rough patches in the middle.

There were seven of us crowded into a booth for five at a trendy downtown Toronto nightclub/sportsbar Friday evening ready to watch Game 1 of the ALCS between the Toronto Blue Jays and Cleveland Indians.

Three of the group were millenials who worked for a sports network, while four of us were Saskies.

They’d barely got their coats off and ordered drinks on that cool Toronto evening when the snickering started.  “What are you guys here for?  Are the Argos playing this weekend?” and, “We’re from Toronto so we don’t follow the CFL!”

It was, really, harmless chortling with no malice intended.  Still, it made yours truly feel one inch tall as I explained the Saskatchewan Roughriders were in town to face the Argonauts the following day.

They couldn’t have cared less and it made me feel sheepish, even though I soon realized there was no reason to be.

“Oh, that’s against Game 2 of the ALCS and the Leafs’ home opener is tomorrow night too,” one warned.  “There might be 2,000 people there.”

They all laughed.

And remind me for a second, just who the heck is Toronto anyway?

They are home to the Maple Leafs who are, well, the Leafs.  The Raptors habitually have the worst brand in the NBA (several sports marketing studies have proven this) and the Blue Jays had the longest playoff drought in North American pro sports until last year.

And they’re going to laugh at us?

2 – Asking to get the broadcast of the Ottawa-Hamilton CFL game put on just one of the televisions in that establishment was pointless.  That suggestion was met with laughter too.

“But it’s Friday Night Football!” huffed Rider Radio colour commentator Carm Carteri to me under his breath.

Nope.  It was a no-go.  However the manager of the joint relented to someone’s request to get the Raptors-versus-Zimbabwe NBA preseason game put on a tiny TV monitor next to the movie theatre-sized screen showing the Jays and Indians.

3 – “The CFL really only is a big deal in the West,” said one of the youngsters, a manager at the network.  “No one out here cares about it.”

I responded with, “Then how do you explain sellout crowds in Ottawa, Hamilton and Montreal?”

He thought for a minute, and squeezed his chin.

“Yah I guess you’re right,” he submitted.  “I suppose it really only is Toronto that doesn’t care about the CFL.”

4 – And therein lies the problem.  It must be an incredibly depressing feeling for staffers at CFL headquarters when they walk into the offices on Wellington Street East each morning.  But it shouldn’t be.

And there’s no need for anyone connected with the CFL to feel “one inch” tall while visiting Toronto for road games or league meetings either.  It’s Toronto’s problem, not ours.

Shoot, Carm and I were in Toronto representing the Saskatchewan Roughriders who, as Rider President Craig Reynolds is fond of pointing out, is “Canada’s #3 sports brand”.

These kids who invited us to their table didn’t know or care that the Saskatchewan Roughriders outsell the Blue Jays, Raptors, Oilers, Flames, Senators, etc., etc. in merchandise, and all the rest that goes along with being right behind the Maple Leafs and Canadiens for national sports prominence.

And it’s not those kids’ fault.  They’re just like the other 6-million-plus in the Greater Toronto Area; they’re too big for the CFL and prefer instead the NHL, MLB and NBA.  Perhaps even the NFL.

The difference is the CFL hasn’t done anything wrong in Toronto, but the city has turned its back on the league nonetheless.

Therefore, it’s time to leave.

And this isn’t about the Argos’ attendance woes.  It’s about the football club’s grotesque invisibility in its own city.  The Argos don’t have a bad reputation because they don’t have a reputation at all.

If the topic came up at the CFL Board of Governors table regarding relocation of the Argonauts to Quebec City or Atlantic Canada, and I was there and had a vote, I’d check an emphatic YES for moving the Argos out of Toronto.  Yesterday.

Maybe the citizens of Toronto would feel a pang of regret once they saw rabid fans of the Halifax Argonauts going wild in McCain’s Stadium.  Or, maybe they wouldn’t.

But the Toronto Argonauts – and the CFL – don’t deserve the treatment they’re getting in the GTA.  They’re both vastly credible organizations with no credibility in the very place they pay their taxes.

Therefore it’s time to go.


5 – There will be many with the Argonauts who wince at that suggestion.  The Voice of the Argos Mike Hogan and I have gotten into some heated arguments over this matter in the past but he’s at a loss now.

“Maybe we should’ve moved the Roughriders when they were going through rough times,” Hogan Tweeted at me a few seasons ago.  However he referred to the situation as “depressing” when we debated it on the SportsCage on 620 CKRM last week.

It’s easy to see why Argonauts and CFL officials felt the move from Rogers Centre to nearby BMO Field would be all it took to save the franchise.  It’s a stunning facility, outdoors, and the perfect size to host a CFL team.

These are sharp guys. Whizzes in their field.

And yet someone forgot to tell the people of Toronto.  The Argos haven’t had a sellout all season and their attendance is dwindling with a record of 5-11.  Just over 15,000 showed up for Saturday’s Roughriders/Argos game – which was much more than was expected – however without Rider fans in attendance, there would’ve been far less than 10,000 on hand.

But at this point, the Argos are not giving up.  As CBC’s Malcolm Kelly said on our halftime show, “The Argos actually have a marketing department now, and a ticket-selling department, and they feel they’re going in the right direction.”

Maybe that’s true, but the improvement has been incremental.

I say move the Argos and move them now.  The CFL deserves better than the treatment it’s getting in Toronto.

The people there are nice, friendly and sophisticated.  But if they don’t want the CFL, then I think we can get along without them just as fine.

6 – Malcolm Kelly dropped another nugget during our halftime interview.  He suggested the Argonauts should be in the bidding for the services of Marc Trestman, who was fired as Offensive Coordinator of the NFL’s Baltimore Ravens one week ago.

Who knows if Trestman’s even interested in coming back to the CFL – let alone Toronto – but Kelly suggests that if the Argos want to make a splash with Toronto sports fans, they need a big name like Marc Trestman.

“It’s ‘Go Big or Go Home‘,” Kelly continued.  “Look at your President, Craig Reynolds.  He went big by signing Chris Jones and his entire staff and look at how it’s paying off now (the Riders were leading 20-0 at halftime on their way to their fourth victory in a row).

“If the Argos want to be taken seriously, they need to do what the Riders did.”

It will be a very interesting off-season in Toronto with the likes of Argo GM Jim Barker and Head Coach Scott Milanovich.  Both are proven football men and will have jobs in 2017.  However the question remains whether it will be in Toronto or not.

7 – And how about those Saskatchewan Roughriders?  We arrived home shortly after midnight on Saturday and on Sunday, one of my daughters quizzed, “When did the Riders get good?”

It’s true, the Roughriders appear to be back to being a good – maybe even great – football team even if it’s too little, too late for 2016.  Their playoff chances were officially extinguished one week ago when Edmonton won at Montreal.

It is what it is.  As the broadcaster, I’m simply enjoying calling games for a dominant football team right now and staring at an extremely long off-season ahead.  Every winter is long, but this one will be excruciating with the anticipation of what this club’s going to do in New Mosaic Stadium starting next June.

Chris Jones said on CKRM’s postgame show that a “large contingent” of this year’s team will be back with the club next year and why wouldn’t they be?  It appears that after a 6-month training camp (April-September), he finally has the pieces he wants.

8 – Roughriders Assistant V.P. of Football Administration Jeremy O’Day concurred with the statement  that “The worst is over”during a chat on Saturday’s pregame show.

“Yeah I think coming into the season we knew it was going to be a process,” O’Day said.  “Obviously it didn’t get moving in the right direction fast enough for what we’d have liked.  Honestly coming into the season we felt like we had a team that could go into the playoffs and have an opportunity to move forward but it took a little bit longer.

“But you can see this team is starting to gel. We’re starting to play well in all the phases, they’re starting to take to the coaching, and not only that, we turned over 3/4 of the team so these guys were getting used to playing next to each other.  It’s starting to create some positive momentum.  I can tell you it’s a heckuva lot better feeling when you win than when you lose.”

9 – If the Roughriders were sick of each other after 11 days on the road, you wouldn’t have known it by what I saw Sunday morning at Ricky’s in Harbour Landing.  Seated together for breakfast were the likes of Naaman Roosevelt, Jeff Knox Jr., Kacy Rodgers, Tyler Crapigna, Josh Bartel, Matt Webster, Jeff Hecht and Graig Newman.

Teams that eat together win together.

This really is a special bunch, and they all stopped by our table to say hi.

10 – I stopped in at Sparky’s Sunday evening to pick up a pizza and the regulars bellied up to the bar were discussing new Rider running back Joe McKnight.  The former Eskimo tallied 150 yards rushing in Saturday’s win over Toronto and that was the first 100-plus yard performance by a Rider running back this season.  It was also the first since Jerome Messam rushed for 111 yards on September 27 of last year.

And here’s the truly breathtaking stat: McKnight’s performance was the 30th time in Rider history that a player rushed for 150 yards or more.  George Reed did it on SEVEN occasions and in two other games he had 149 yards!

11 – One thing that irked me over the weekend and I wanted to vent on in the MMG was the fact CFL V.P. of Football Glen Johnson singled out replay official Jeff Harbin for getting a review incorrect in Friday’s Ottawa-Hamilton game.  Wouldn’t it have been more discreet to simply say the “Command Centre” got it wrong?

I can’t imagine Harbin was too thrilled with being thrown under the bus by his bus but I can’t speak for him.

**EDIT** As I re-read the 3DownNation.com story on Johnson’s statement, he didn’t specifically mention Harbin by name. Writer Drew Edwards did, for what it’s worth.**

And Glen Johnson knows how to be discreet. As one CFL type pointed out last werk, official Rick Berezowski was the one fired by Tom Higgins when he was in the role of CFL V.P. of Officiating a few years back.  However Johnson has discreetly re-hired Berezowksi.  In fact he worked Saturday’s Roughriders-Argonauts game.

If CFL officiating is indeed as bad as the teams are wailing about right now, then these are some of the issues which need to be brought up in the off-season.

The TSN broadcasts and Twitter feeds of reporters covering the CFL were littered with criticisms of calls in games over the weekend.

Those public statements are unsightly for the CFL.

12 – It’s cute how the debate has reared its head again how the CFL should look at scrapping the division alignment we’ve employed for years and go with the top six teams for the playoffs based on their record.  (i.e. 1 and 2 get a bye, 3 plays 6 and 4 plays 5 in the Division Semifinals).

The idea has merit but I simply wonder if I only hear it around here because it would give the Riders a better chance of making the playoffs rather than the current format.

But based on the records today, here’s how it would shake down based on points.

Calgary 29
Winnipeg 20
BC 18
Edmonton 16
Ottawa 15
Hamilton 12
Saskatchewan 10
Toronto 10
Montreal 8

* Under this method the Roughriders would still miss the playoffs however I guess with the way they’re going, they could still sneak ino the Top 6.

Still, I’m not in favouring of tinkering with the playoff format.  Canada is split into the East and the West and there’s no reason why its football league shouldn’t be too.
 
13 – We can’t get out of this column without an obligatory Regina Pats mention.  At 6-0-3, the Queen City Kids are atop the WHL’s Eastern Conference with 15 points.  They are the only team in the CHL which has yet to lose in regulation.

Your next chance to witness this juggernaut is Tuesday evening at 7:00 when the Pats play host to the Lethbridge Hurricanes.  620 CKRM’s SportsCage will be broadcast live from the Brandt Centre that afternoon and we’ll do our best to whip up some hype for the Blueshirts.

Sadly, not enough people have noticed.  Attendance at Pats games is poor and as one NHL scout noted at a game last week, “This team is in the running to host the Memorial Cup next year and no one around here seems to care.”

It’s a cheap, easy story to write about the lack of profile for the Pats in Regina.  Some who’ve worked for the Pats in the past have said it’s impossible to get any traction in the market in the fall months while the Roughriders are still playing.

I was prepared to write today that the notion of drawing 5,000-plus for a Pats game every night is unsalvageable but over lunch last week, a local marketing whiz figured it’s not a lost cause.  He said Regina hockey fans just got out of the habit of going to Pats games during the wasteland years of the 2000s and that ticket prices currently are just too high.

But there’s still hope.

Here’s hoping the Pats find it soon.  They’re doing all they can on the ice but perhaps it’s going to take a lot more to turn the city on.

14 – Millions across Canada will be tuned in Monday evening for Game 3 of the ALCS between the Indians and Blue Jays in Toronto on Sportsnet.  Blue Jays fans are hoping a venue change will help reverse the club’s fortunes after losing the opening pair in Ohio.

The club that lived by the long ball in the regular season, wildcard game and ALDS is dying by a lack of it in the League Championship Series.  Sportsnet analyst Gregg Zaun was on the SportsCage last week saying this club checked their egos at the door in time for the playoffs – sacrificing swinging for the fences and gaudy numbers for simply getting on base and advancing the runners – but they forgot to do that on the weekend.

Here’s hoping this fun ride picks back up again Monday night!

AND is there anything more nauseating than the racial outcry over Cleveland’s nickname of the “Indians“?  Some First Nations folk may be offended by it while many others are not.

But don’t point the finger at this blog.  That’s the team’s nickname at this current time and that’s why we refer to it as such online and on the air.  If and when it changes, we’ll follow suit.

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THAT’S IT FOR TODAY!  SEE YOU ON THE RADIO AT 4:00 PM
RP
@rodpedersen

www.realtyoneregina.com