Scruffy’s This N That

1 – GAME OF THE YEAR: There is still a lot of CFL football to be played in 2026, but what we saw Thursday night at Mosaic Stadium might go down as the game of the year. There is so much to unpack from Edmonton’s last play, 36-34 win over the Riders. Where do you start?  Both quarterbacks were on fire. We saw amazing throws, big plays and yes, we even saw some plays made by the defence and it was capped off with a 57-yard missile by Vincent Blanchard to send those at Mosaic home disappointed.  It was even well attended as the Thursday night game is usually the toughest one for fans from outside of Regina to get to. 

2 – DEATH, TAXES AND FAJARDO:  Yeah, I stole that from RP, but the fact remains that three things remain constant and that is death, taxes and never, ever count Cody Fajardo out.  Some are asking if his effort Thursday night has put him into the most outstanding player equation? How can it not.  This guy just does not go down without a fight and most times he wins that fight.  You can’t discount a 500-yard night through the air, but his best performance might have been the last drive. A holding penalty meant Edmonton had to go a little further on that game winning drive, but Cody made one fantastic throw on 3^rd down to keep a drive alive and he managed to spin forward to get a couple of yards on a sack meaning the game-winning kick didn’t come from 59 or 60 yards.  The Riders obviously came out alright in getting Trevor Harris after Fajardo was sent packing, but he has shown that he had more in him once leaving Saskatchewan having won a Grey Cup in Montreal and having his team with the best record in the CFL and a team that has beaten both the Riders and Als. I still think if Edmonton hadn’t given QB1 to Tre Ford at the start of last year that Edmonton makes the playoffs last year because of Cody.

Let’s also give him props for having some fun when he once again hit the crossbar in the north end of the stadium during the 4^th quarter.  It was funny to see him run off the field urging the fans to keep it up with the chirps he was getting.  Loved it! He said after the game he will be glad when the goalposts move to the back of the endzone. He won’t be the only one.

3 – JAYDEN DALKE: Like everyone else in the Saskatchewan and Canadian football community, I was stunned and deeply saddened upon learning of the sudden and tragic death of Jayden Dalke last weekend, and the fallout, as we saw the ugly side of Saskatchewan come out in full force on both sides.

I don’t think we will ever know the full story of what happened, but we do know a promising young football player made a terrible mistake which cost him his life and the life of another young man. 

It has not been an easy week for the Riders. It has not been an easy one for the Dalke family and it has not been an easy one for the family and friends of Bhishma Rajyagaru who was the other person killed in the accident.

The football team and many others remembered Rajyagaru leading up to and before Thursday night’s game and predictably some mouth-breathers on social media had to take their shots at the organization. Sadly, I guess that is to be expected these days as our society continues to swirl downwards. 

As I said to RP on Tuesday’s show, the Riders were damned if they do and damned if they don’t. To me, what was done was classy in what was a no-win situation for the football team who did the best they could with a very short window to work upon. 

4 – GETTING IT RIGHT: I have hated the single point in the CFL for years especially on a missed field goal or a punt. You are rewarding failure. The decision by the league to get rid of the single point on a missed field goal paid dividends when the Argos missed a potential game winning kick that sailed through the endzone giving Hamilton a one-point lead instead of having the game go into overtime.  This is something that should have been done in the Jake Gaudaur reign. 

Predictably, those who can’t stand to see the CFL change anything got all up in arms about the rule change saying the game should go into overtime. Nope! That rule change is a great one and is hopefully the start to removing the single point altogether. Meanwhile, the crying about rule changes continues on a variety of forums with one old-timer after another along with Peter Dyakowski leading the charge. 

The same game is being played with some slight changes.  The NHL has done it, the NFL has done it, MLB has done it and so has the NBA. If they can do it, the question remains why can’t the CFL? 

5 – YEAHHHHH…..NO! On the heels of the World Cup ending, Canada Soccer sent out a release this week saying a national survey solidifies the sport as Canada’s sport of the future.  I won’t deny that and I have said even before the World Cup that there are more and more Canadians interested in the game and that interest grew with many over the last month. 

However, some numbers in the survey really make me question the legitimacy of it. One of the questions was “What are your favourite sports?” One of the categories was for Canadians not born here and soccer was number one.  That isn’t a surprise. However, I can’t believe that soccer is now the number two sport overall when it comes to favourites in Canada ahead of baseball, basketball and football.  There has been more interest in baseball this year in this country with the Jays run to the World Series and we all know how big football is.  If that is “Canadian” football, I might buy it but you can’t tell me soccer in Canada is bigger than football when you include the NFL, NCAA and the three-down game. 

Another area that actually made me laugh was those asked were asked to give their favourite men’s and women’s teams. The top answer for men was the Blue Jays with Hockey Canada being the number one choice for women.  In the top 10 teams, the only CFL team mentioned was the Alouettes at 9.  C’mon! You can’t ask that question and not have the Riders and Bombers in the top 10.  

The survey was of 1500 people, and it says people were asked all across Canada. Did only two or three people in Saskatchewan get asked? Again, I have no doubt soccer is growing in this country and will continue to grow, but please don’t tell me that soccer is now the number two sport in this country ahead of football and please don’t tell me that the Riders and Bombers are not two of the most popular teams in Canada. They are certainly more popular than Toronto FC. 

6 – ROBBIE ALOMAR:  The Blue Jays honored their past last weekend by celebrating the 1992 and 1993 World Series teams with a statue of Joe Carter commemorating the 2^nd biggest hit in team history being unveiled outside Rogers Centre.  Yes, I said 2^nd biggest hit.  Even though Roberto Alomar is not banned by the Baseball Hall of Fame or the Baltimore Orioles Hall of Fame, the Blue Jays have done their best to scrub the best player to have ever worn a Toronto uniform from their history.  His homerun off of Dennis Eckersley in the 1992 American League Championship Series is the biggest hit in the history of the team.  Without that hit, Toronto doesn’t win the 92 Series and who knows what happens from there.  The fact he was ignored by the organization was something noticed by many including Toronto media legends Steve Simmons and Mark Hebscher who, like me, think there are many who need to provide some answers over the unfounded allegations against him. Until they are proven, he should not be ostracized. If they are, do what you will. As it stands right now, it is a bad look as all Blue Jays fans know how instrumental he was to their success. 

7 – POSITION PLAYERS PITCHING:  Like many others, I don’t think we will see a full 2027 MLB season if we see a season at all because of a labour dispute that is going to be nasty. That’s too bad considering so there are soooooo many good players under the age of 26 dotting rosters that will see a year of their development get impeded. 

Both owners and players are going to have make some concessions. I don’t know if rules are a part of the bargaining, but if it is I really hope something is put in place to stop position players from taking the mound in a blowout. 

Over 100 games this season has seen a position player come in to pitch in what is a one-sided game. It is embarrassing to see some of these guys come out and lob them in.  Dodgers shortstop Mookie Betts and a couple of others have spoken against this in the last couple of weeks.  Betts feels if the game has reached a point where the need is there to bring in a position player you are basically saying the game is over so end it.  If the game hits the 8^th or 9^th inning and the score is so lopsided that you want to bring in a position player, just let the home plate umpire know its time to go home.  I don’t think fans will be disappointed as their interest level in the game has declined tremdously. I don’t think the networks will mind and I know the players wouldn’t mind.  It needs to be considered. 

8 – RANDOM THOUGHTS:

• Say what you will about the Blue Jays, but the downturn started the day Don Mattingly left. 
• Why don’t baseball players wear cups? If you don’t know why I said that, check out what happened to Oakland outfielder Joshua Kuroda-Grauer this week. 
• Whatever happened to CFL Week? 
• An 80’s related Twitter account called Bite Size Nostalgia if you preferred Janet or Chrissy. My vote would have gone to Terri! If you don’t know what show I am talking about, do a Google search.
• Connor Bedard will make 15 million dollars this season in Chicago. Lebron James will make four million in Philadelphia.  Crazy!

That’s all I got.  Have a great week!