SCRUFFY’S THIS ‘N THAT

Welcome to Friday! Here are the usual weekly thoughts running through my muddled mind, and as always they come in no particular order:

— I know I’m not the only one out there who thinks the BC Lions could go back to Vancouver with their tail between their legs after getting a whuppin from the Saskatchewan Roughriders. I get the feeling the /=S=/ are going to beat the BC Lions and beat them by double digits at Mosaic Stadium tomorrow night. I feel after the first two games, this team is ready to break out and hang one on the Lions. Time will tell my friends, time will tell.

— A belated congratulations to Darian Durant. His touchdown pass to Rob Bagg in Edmonton last Friday night put him over the 25-thousand career yards mark. Within a couple of weeks, he should pass Kent Austin as the #2 all-time Rider quarterbacks when it comes to yards as Austin had 26,626 yards during his glorious career in green. One would have to assume Durant has some good years in front of him and should be close to 40-thousand yards by the time he finally calls it a career. The question is where does that put him not only in Rider lore, but CFL lore. If he can find a way to quarterback this team to another Grey Cup championship, he would have to go down as one of the CFL’s all time best would he not?

— How many Rider fans have bought Jonathan Newsome jerseys? If so, it is a great short-term investment. I say that because I think Newsome is here for a short time, and will have NFL employment once he can return south of the border. He has shown us what he is all about in just two games. We know he made Shawn Lemon expendable, and we are seeing what he can do. I am sure he will introduce himself to Jonathan Jennings at some point tonight.

— How many Rider fans have bought Ricky Collins jerseys? That also is a solid investment.. As one person told me this week, it would have been a lot easier had he worn 7 and not Justin Capiccotti. I fully understand what is being said, but let’s remember there is only one 7 when it comes to the Riders, and with all due respect it’s not Justin.

— I thought moving to BMO Field was going to revive the Toronto Argonauts? It would seem as if Toronto football fans didn’t get the memo—at least on Wednesday. Yes, the Toronto Indy meant getting to the park wasn’t the easiest, but that crowd for their game against Ottawa was pathetic. That isn’t what you want to show people as you are trying to become relevant again. I thought the Argos weren’t supposed to get these odd nights for home games when they left the Rogers Centre. It would appear as if they have. It’s very disappointing to see, and I’m hoping its just a blip on the radar.

— I wonder if the CFL suits will ever decide one day not to tinker with the rules of the game with what can and can’t be challenged and say to themselves “Why do we have games that end in ties?” I have said in the past I think CFL overtime needs to have the ball placed further back so that teams have to get at least one first down before they are in scoring position, but the league also needs to find a way to stop games from ending in ties. Make them go for two at a certain point.  Ties aren’t supposed to happen in professional sport anymore.

— Is Adarius Bowman the best receiver in the CFL? If not, who is?

— There is a lot of hue and cry over the fact the game’s best golfers aren’t going to Rio. 1) Golfers don’t win any money by competing 2) Golfers don’t want to take the chance of being bitten by mosquitoes and getting sick and 3) and perhaps most important–golfers don’t want to get drug tested seeing the PGA has none. Let’s think about it for just a second!

— Graham DeLaet is competing this week in “The Barbasol Championship”. Should someone who carries as awesome a beard as the Weyburn native be competing in an event put on by a shaving cream company? I am guessing he will be giving away any product received to family and friends.

— I can’t be the only one who would have loved to seen both Rougned Odor and Jose Bautista on the American League All-Star team this week. What an “interesting” dynamic that would have been!

— I am guessing the Tenors may have a problem playing a small-town Saskatchewan sports day. I had no idea who the Tenors or the clown who thought the all-star game was a great place to voice his personal agenda. All I know is you do not screw around with our anthem or our flag in the manner that he did. Let’s hope this jackwagon (thanks Brad Wall) doesn’t even get his 15 minutes of fame!

— This Pokémon phemonenon which is going on is SOOOOOOOO 1990’s. ENOUGH! If you are going to do anything, bring back TECMO Bowl.

— The Frog Lake First Nation-Lloydminster/WHL story is an interesting one. Word is WHL commish Ron Robison has been in contact with the First Nation about their plans.  Is Lloydminster a worthy home for a WHL franchise though? Location wise, the answer is yes. That can’t be argued. What can be argued is the league’s vision for the future. Nanaimo would like to get back in the league, and I still think if the right option was there, Winnipeg would like to get in. Both of those centres are bigger than Lloyd. However, the league is running successful franchises in Swift Current, Prince Albert and Moose Jaw. Once this facility gets built, we will hear a lot more about this plan, but until then, keep it on the backburner.

— Congratulations to Daniel Fink. The Regina Pats director of media/communications is doing what so many junior hockey players dream of doing—he is moving to the pros. Daniel took a job with the American Hockey League’s Manitoba Moose this week, and I couldn’t be happier for him. I  met Daniel for the first time when I was working for the SJHL and he was the P x P voice of the Credit Union Cup champion La Ronge Ice Wolves. I was fortunate enough to work with some great radio guys during my term with the league and to see guys like Daniel, Dan O’Connor (now with the Prince George Cougars) and Gino DePaoli (now with the Alberta Junior League’s Okotoks Oilers) doing well in the business, and moving up the ladder is something that makes me smile. Best of luck in Winnipeg Finker. If I need tickets to a Moose game, I know who to call.  Thanks for all your help in both leagues. You are truly going from the Mel (Mel Hegland Arena in La Ronge) to the Moose.

— After Wednesday’s CFL game, I tuned in the West Coast airing of the ESPY’s on ABC Seattle. Once again, the network came through in flying colours. The ESPY’s celebrate the best in sports, and the game’s biggest names are in attendance. It is the other things the ESPY’s do that make the show so good. The opening piece featuring Lebron James, Carmelo Anthony, Dwayne Wade and Chris Paul talking about the recent gun violence in the U-S, and how it has to stop was powerful and very well-done, My only complaint was that instead of four basketball players, there should have been some representing all four major leagues in the U-S.

The segments where the Pat Tillman service  and Arthur Ashe courage awards are handed out are riveting television and the speech by NBA on TNT analyst Craig Sager who is battling leukemia and won’t let it stop him from what he was doing was inspiring and motivating. Cancer has touched all of us in some fashion. To see what Sager goes through every day is amazing, but he isn’t the only one doing it. I don’t know if I could be as positive about life when it is slowly draining away as he is. Frankly, I don’t want to find out either.

All in all, the ESPY’s reminded us what is great about sports—-it isn’t just the athletes and what they do on their court of choice, it is the stories about people who remind us of the fact that behind adversity there is good out there, and a lot of it. WWE superstar John Cena also had the line of the night when talking about the Cleveland Cavaliers victory celebrations. Cena said “1.3 million people in Cleveland, and yet they still can’t find a quarterback.”

— If you’re at Craven, enjoy and behave. You might want to try cleaning up before you leave too. Just sayin!