Scruffy’s This N That

1 – BYE WEEK 2: We are into Week 7 of the 21-week CFL season meaning we will be at the one-third pole when play concludes Sunday in Ottawa. Through seven weeks of the season, the Riders are on their second bye week of the season. Don’t get me started. I just shake my head when it comes to the CFL schedule makers and so do many of you. 

As we go into the second third of the season, the Riders are sitting with a record of 4-1. I think many of you would be happy with that and while it hasn’t been exactly a clean, polished 4-1, you don’t get style points for victories and that is what the Riders have done. 

Offensively, the team really hasn’t missed a beat. Trevor Harris continues to play at a high level and in a position where one might have to start having some MOP chatter surround him. Kian Schaeffer-Baker has once again become a focal point of the offence and secondaries are having nightmares not knowing what talented receiver is going to be catching the football. 

Defensively, the effort against Hamilton was a sign that some early season struggles are behind them especially when it comes to takeaways as a team that had 41 last season had only three before exploding for a few in the lopsided win last weekend. Yes, part of that can be attributed to the fact Jake Dolegala was in for the injured Bo Levi Mitchell, but no one is apologizing for that. 

Special teams is where this team is weak. Remember Brett Lauther? The guy that many of you wanted out of town on a railcar last season? Yeah, he is doing pretty well in Ottawa while his replacement Alex Hale has not had anyone talking about him being in that Ridgway, McCallum and yes, Lauther echelon. It was a damning indictment of the confidence Corey Mace had in Hale last weekend when he elected to punt from the opposition 40 instead of trying a 47-yard field goal. The return game has been affected by injuries to James Letcher and Matthew Sexton, and the punting has been in my mind average. 

The first two games after the break are against Edmonton. We have seen how good they are. I would say if the Riders are 5-2 going into what likely is a probable win against Ottawa at home August 7 then you should be happy. It’s still too early to tell if this team can repeat as Grey Cup champs, but there are more signs that they can than they can’t. 

2 – TREVOR HARRIS: We are at the one-third pole, and we have started hearing what player should be considered for what award come season end. When it comes to the Most Outstanding Player chatter, the talk surrounds Justin Rankin, Davis Alexander and Nathan Rourke along with the Philpot brothers. Why is everyone ignoring Trevor Harris? The 40-year-old went into the week 3^rd in passing with 1620 yards and 3^rd in TD passes with 12. The Riders are 4-1. What am I missing? 

3 – CFL QB’S FALLING: We are starting the second third of the season and three teams are without their number one QB. Bo Levi Mitchell is out with his broken ankle, Nathan Rourke appears to be ready to miss time after suffering a shoulder injury in last night’s B.C. loss to Edmonton and word comes out Saturday morning that Zach Collaros has been placed on the six-game injured list by the Bombers.  The game suffers when your number one guy is not under center. When a third of the teams don’t have their regular starting quarterback it is not good for the league as a whole. I had a Riders fan tell me that it’s great to see Rourke and Collaros go down as it makes the path easier for the /=S=/. I casually reminded him that Trevor Harris could be next and if he goes down, all bets are off. One never knows from play-to-play what we will see. 

4 – NFL TOP QB’S: The NFL season is still over a month away, but ESPN has got tongues wagging by producing a top 10 list of the various positions with league executives, coaches and scouts being the ones in charge of it. As it is with any list, it is producing a lot of debate which is what both the network and the league want.  At quarterback, the top 10 are Josh Allen, Patrick Mahomes, Matthew Stafford, Joe Burrow, Lamar Jackson, Dak Prescott, Justin Herbert, Drake Maye, Jared Goff and Caleb Williams. To me, Allen is number 1 despite the fact he has not even been to a Super Bowl, but is that his fault? He is the Connor McDavid of the NFL albeit McDavid has been to two league finals. 

There is no way I would have Prescott, Maye or Goff in my top 10 and Williams needs to be higher. Where is Jordan Love? Where is Brock Purdy? Where is Jalen Hurts? 

5 – THE 97/29 FACTOR: Do the various sportsbooks out there feel Mike Babcock is what the Edmonton Oilers need or are they still hanging on to the fact that Connor McDavid, Leon Draisaitl and maybe Evan Bouchard mean you have to put them in the Stanley Cup discussion regardless of their sad first-round exit and the chaotic off-season they have had?

I’m not sure if Florida should be the favourites to win the Cup right now, but Carolina and Colorado are solid at eight and eight-and-a-half to one. It just astounds me though that Edmonton is the 4^th best bet at 10 to 1. You know I am a huge Oilers fan and I would like to see 97 and 29 carrying the Cup around Rogers Place or wherever, but is Edmonton better than Vegas, Minnesota and Dallas. Are they better than San Jose or Anaheim? I’m not placing any future bets on Edmonton right now and probably won’t until we are close to the season starting, but it still amazes me as to how so many feel they will be back as one of the NHL’s top teams. 

6 – WCBL STRETCH RUN: The middle of July means we are in the stretch run in the Western Canadian Baseball League with the all-star game happening in Saskatoon this weekend. This is a league where you can win it all if you just make the playoffs seeing they are best of three affairs. The league would love to have playoffs, especially the final, be longer but when you are constricted because of schedules and players have to get back to their colleges, you are stuck. 

Looking at the standings, Okotoks, Lethbridge and Sylvan Lake look like they will fight it out in the West while Moose Jaw and Saskatoon would have to be favoured in the West, but anything can happen.  Just ask last year’s Regina Red Sox about that. It’s going to be a great few weeks as the regular season winds down so if you haven’t been out to a game, do so. 

7 – LIVING THE GOOD LIFE: You may have seen a picture of RP with this gentleman at a recent WCBL game in Moose Jaw. Pete (last name not known) and his wife are from Chandler, Arizona and on Thursday night, they visited Currie Field for the Red Sox-Lethbridge game. Currie Field was the 532^nd pro and collegiate ballpark he has been at. Yeah, I am in my late 50’s, but this is what I would love to do. Hopping in a vehicle and watching one baseball game after another while touring North America with no worries and a carefree style.  Baseball is a sport that gets romanticized and this is one of the reasons why.  Pete is living the good life and good on him for doing so. Hopefully, he hits the 600 and 700 mark.  What memories and stories he must have. 

8 – DEFENDING DECHAMBEAU:  The best golfers in the world are competing for the British Open this weekend.  Bryson DeChambeau is right in the mix, but he went into the 3^rd round down by three instead of one after an hour of basic b-s as he was awarded a two stroke penalty for “inadvertently improving the area of his intended swing”. What?  I’m not a big fan of DeChambeau for a variety of reasons, but while many in the golf world believe that while harsh the punishment was deserved, The infraction was not noticed immediately. Someone had it brought to their attention because of video. The incident happened on the 5^th hole and was not brought to Bryson’s attention until the end of the round. How many shots do we see on television and are we seeing any violations occur? One would have to say yes. I am guessing many others in the past and moving forward have been or will be guilty of “inadvertently improving the area of his intended swing”. It seems to me as if the officials sometimes need to take the 7 iron out of their ass. Maybe Bryson should have had fat Donny make some calls. 

9 – NOW WHAT: Like the sport or not, you got a solid dose of soccer at its best over the last month as the World Cup came to Canada, the United States and Mexico. The numbers on TSN and FOX for games have been exactly what both networks wanted.  More people were watching Canadian games than Grey Cup games which is a little concerning for the CFL considering many of the games were not in ideal times for a North American audience. I am a guy that will sit down and watch events like the World Cup, Canadian international games and the European championships but while it is great to watch guys like Messi, Kane, Mbappe and others represent their country, I won’t be sitting down to watch the Premier League and others as big time fans of the sport do. 

Canada Soccer has seen the interest the game has captured. It was disappointing not to see more events surrounding the World Cup in the 306 but whatever.  The key is now to try and sustain and build on the momentum.  It won’t be easy in a country where hockey remains king, but soccer is catching up and if you want to deny that you may have your head in the sand. 

10 – RANDOM THOUGHTS:

• The first-ever game at the Calgary Saddledome in 1983 featured the Flames battling the Oilers.  With this being the last year of the Dome, the Oilers should be the last team to play the Flames in a regular season game. That won’t be happening. Can someone at the NHL explain that? 

• Leafs fans believe the arrival of Gavin McKenna and Sergei Bobrovsky mean they will be back in the playoffs after being a lottery team last year. Not really sure if Toronto finishes in the top four in the Atlantic as I don’t see Florida, Tampa, Buffalo and Montreal taking a big drop? Will Detroit be better if they make a Dylan Larkin trade?
• I could care less where Lebron James plays next season!
• How do hotel workers know if someone eating the breakfast buffet is actually a guest?

That’s all I got.  Have a great week!