Scruffy’s This N That

1 – QUARTER-CENTURY RIDERS TEAM:  Everyone is doing it these days so here is what I have. Agree or disagree if you want:

Offence: Darian Durant (QB), Kory Sheets (RB), Chris Szarka (FB), Weston Dressler, Matt Dominguez, Chris Getzlaf, Naaman Roosevelt (REC), Gene Makowsky, Jeremy O’Day, Brendon LaBatte, Logan Ferland, Ben Heenan (OL), Scott Schultz, Willie Jefferson, Micah Johnson, John Chick (DL), Reggie Hunt, Jerrell Freeman, Maurice Lloyd (LB), Eddie Davis, Lance Frazier, Tyron Brackenridge, Nick Marshall, Ed Gainey, Rolan Milligan Jr (DB), Jon Ryan (P), Brett Lauther (K), Corey Holmes (RET)  Ken Miller (Head Coach)

2 – OFFICIALLY IN GREEN:  I’m on record as saying I don’t like the fact Jake Maier is now a Rider and will be QB2 going into training camp.  Despite the fact he has worked with OC Marc Mueller in the past, I just don’t like the move because I don’t think Maier is that good and that the team should have stuck with Shea Patterson.  It’s not like other former Rider QB’s have found success elsewhere right?  Maier has reportedly signed for 159K with more in incentives involving playtime which he hopefully never, but likely will see.  I think they could have inked Patterson for less than that and used the extra money to maybe make a more lucrative offer to guys like Jameer Thurman and Micah Johnson who are unsigned. I guess time will tell if this was the right move or not.

3 – BERRY GOOD NEWS:  The WCBL’s Saskatoon Berries gave baseball fans in Alberta and Saskatchewan a present this week as they announced Carnduff’s Carter Beck would be back with them for this season. 

The kid lived up to expectations in his rookie season by being named the WCBL rookie of the year and the league’s most outstanding player after hitting .374 at the plate with 11 homers, 38 RBI’s and 19 steals.  He is apparently raking the ball at Division 1 Indiana State (the almamater of the great Larry Bird) and some believe he could be the next Saskatchewan player to dot a major league roster. 

If you did not see Beck play this past season and you are a baseball fan, go check him out when the Berries come to town this summer. 

4 – NORTH DAKOTA STATE FOOTBALL:  The word dynasty is thrown around in sports these days.  Some in Winnipeg believe the Bombers are a dynasty even though they haven’t won the Grey Cup in their last three kicks at the can in the big game.  If you want dynasty, how about North Dakota State.  On Monday night, they knocked off undefeated Montana State in the FCS Division 2 championship to win their 10th national title in the last 18 years and 5th in the last eight seasons.  Whatever they are doing in Fargo, they are doing it right.  If you watched the game on TSN, chances are you might see a few of the players in that game on a CFL field.  One might be Montana State quarterback Tommy Mellott who is on Calgary’s neg list. 

Speaking of US college football, you will find an interesting article if you haven’t seen it already on Riderville.com from the great Rob Vanstone.  Robert went through Rider rosters from years gone past to see what American schools have had the most representation with the green-and-white.  The winner, which actually surprised me, was Alabama.  The Crimson Tide have had 33 players in camp here with 15 suiting up for at least one game.  One of those would be the great Eddie Lowe.  It’s a great read, but that is what you usually get from Robert.

5 – RESTOCKING THE CUPBOARD: As you know, the Moose Jaw Warriors won the Ed Chynoweth Cup last year. To do so, they had to trade a lot of draft picks and youth to get the players needed to win their first title.  GM Jason Ripplinger has let it be known that he wants his team competing for “The Ed” again in a short amount of time.  Fans might not like it, but Ripplinger has made the tough decision to rebuild his roster and get the picks he traded away back by gutting the team that won it all last year.  Moose Jaw has acquired 19 picks for nine players in the last few weeks.  Ripplinger has done a great job.  As I have stated here before, I think Al Millar is doing a great job in assembling talent for the Pats meaning the Highway 1 rivalry will be alive and well again very soon.   The Blades are also trading a lot of their vets away for future picks. I understand Moose Jaw and Regina doing it because of their record but the Blades are sacrificing a great season for the future. That might be a tougher sell to their fanbase, but that is junior hockey.

6 – THE WDIV EFFECT: It was 1984 when Regina and Saskatchewan ditched Williston, North Dakota TV channels for Detroit ones.  WDIV brought us Detroit Tigers baseball two or three times a week with George Kell and Al Kaline.  It always humoured me that Kell would not call the team by its name—the Yankees, the Twins, the Blue Jays opting for something like the Kansas City ballclub or the Toronto ballclub.  That year saw the Tigers win the World Series.

We still have WDIV on our cable package with the great Bernie Smilovitz doing sports. It was a huge thrill several years ago when Rod and I had him on the Sportscage.  I bring this up because there seems to be a lot of Detroit Lions fans in the Queen City.  Moreso in the last couple of years.  When going out with friends to watch Monday Night Football, many are wearing Lions jerseys.  Some are vintage like Calvin Johnson while others are more recent. Is this the WDIV effect? Where did all these Lions fans come from?  I don’t remember there being a lot of Tigers fans in the late 80’s and I don’t remember a lot of people saying they were big Detroit Pistons fans during the “Bad Boys” era when Bill Laimbeer, Rick Mahorn and company were battling Jordan and the Bulls winning a pair of league championships.

I just have to ask if WDIV is the reason for this sudden Lions fandom and whether or not Lions fans can finally puff their chest out over their team’s play after being unable to do so for so many years.

Hey, I admit I became a Cubs fan because of watching daytime baseball from Wrigley Field on WGN when I was in high school in the 80’s.  High School in the 80’s…..damn I’m old!

7 – WILD CARD WEEKEND: The regular season is over and now the real battle for “the Vince” begins.  Here are some notes to get you ready for wild card weekend in the NFL.

• All 14 teams that qualified for the postseason had at least 10 wins this season, marking the first time since 2012 that every postseason team won 10-or-more games.
• Four teams – Denver, the Los Angeles Chargers, Minnesota and Washington – qualified for the postseason after missing the playoffs in 2023. Since 1990 – a streak of 35 consecutive seasons (1990-2024) – at least four teams every season have qualified for the playoffs after failing to make the postseason the year before.
• Eleven of the 14 expected starting quarterbacks in the 2024 postseason are under the age of 30, tied with 2000, 2022 and 2023 for the most in a postseason all-time.
• The Broncos led the NFL with 63 sacks and ranked third in scoring defense (18.3 points per game allowed) while the Bills allowed the fewest sacks (14) and ranked second with 30.9 points per game. It will mark the seventh postseason game since 1970 and second since 2000 between the team with the most sacks and the team to allow the fewest sacks in the regular season.

8 – MOST MEMORABLE THREE-POINTER:  With the NFL playoffs starting, ESPN was asking what the most memorable playoff field goal was earlier this week. If this were the CFL, would we have to ask that question in Riderville? If you remember 1989, you know the answer to the question.

9 – OUTDOOR GAMES IN THE SUNSHINE STATE:  The NHL will play a pair of outdoor games in Florida next season. That decision was met by many who asked why you would do that.  Have these people forgotten that an outdoor game was played at Dodger Stadium.  If you can play a game outside in California, you can play a game outside in Florida. End of story!

10 – RANDOM THOUGHTS:

• If I am the Cincinnati Bengals, I am offering my defensive co-ordinator position to former NYJ HC and San Fran DC Robert Saleh. Had the Bengals gotten into the NFL playoffs with Joe Burrow, Jamarr Chase, Tee Higgins and the Canadian Chase Brown, they would have been a tough out.   Burrow, Higgins and Brown took me to a fantasy football championship this year for what its worth. That’s two in two in two different leagues for this guy.  Yeah, I know—you don’t care about that and I don’t care what you think. 😊
• If you are still upset over Canada’s failure to win gold at the World Juniors, consider Sweden. They have only one gold medal in 44 years and this is a team that dominates until the playoffs hit
• I said the Ravens would play the Eagles in the Super Bowl. I am not changing that stance now.
• A Dairy Queen in BC offered $2 burgers after the resignation of Prime Minister Trudeau. Did DQ’s in Alberta/Saskatchewan do the same thing? If so, I am guessing they were out of burgers by noon.

That’s all I got! Have a great week!