Scruffy’s This N That
BANJO BOWL: Over to you, Winnipeg! The Riders won the Labour Day Classic in overtime in what was an OK football game with a great ending. The sellout crowd provided a great atmosphere at Mosaic Stadium and that pro-green crowd played a factor as Winnipeg had some problems with the noise. It will hopefully be like that for when Montreal and Edmonton come to town along with a playoff game if the Riders have one. It should be three more sellouts, but that is another story.
While it was pro-green on Sunday, we know what the Bombers went through at Mosaic will be what the Riders have to face today. Last week’s game went to overtime before the home team won. Would it surprise you if the same thing happened today?
QUADRUPLE HEADER: All four CFL games this week go today. I’ll let you decide if that’s a good thing or not. What I want to know, and I am sure the league would like to as well, is how much time are you spending on the couch watching football. There are some, me included, who will sit down and watch a tripleheader on Sundays when the NFL is on. Sunday is a little different than Saturday though—at least it is for this guy.
I think it is safe to say 98 percent of those reading this are tuned into if not at the Banjo Bowl. How much will you watch though? If I am being honest, I am probably out and about doing Saturday things during the Ottawa-Toronto game before getting invested in the two West Division matchups. As for Montreal-B.C, you know it should be a great game, but will there be football withdrawal and yeah, I will be checking out some NCAA action as well as Ohio State-Texas which will be outstanding. I’m not sure why the CFL decided on this weekend to do this as they could have done it a couple of weekends ago when the NCAA hadn’t really started, but I’m sure they had their reasons and hopefully TSN will make a real showcase of the game over the 12 hours we will see.
TREVOR HARRIS: Trevor Harris is having another fantastic season as he continues to show age is only a number. Harris goes into Winnipeg 3rd in the CFL with 3,893 yds passing with 24 TDs. How close would he be to 4,000 and 30 if he didn’t have to come off the field when the Riders hit the opposition 10 so that Tommy Stevens can pad his stats at the expense of QB1. Harris is putting together an MOP calibre season. At best, I think he is the West nominee for MOP as I think Davis Alexander has a lock on that award right now but when opportunities to put up more numbers are being taken away by Tommy Stevens, it makes me wonder if the numbers will be there to compare with other front-runners Cody Fajardo and Nathan Rourke. It is far too early to determine how this season ends, but if Harris were to win the GC for a second straight year, could the Riders afford to let him go due to retirement when Mosaic Stadium hosts the championship game in 2027. Can they afford to let him go if they don’t win. Number 7 may hold the key to whether or not the team can be a legitimate contender in 27.
NFL WEEK 1: The Seattle Seahawks started their bid to repeat as Super Bowl champions Wednesday night with a come-from-behind victory against New England as the NFL season is underway. Here are a couple of tidbits for the opening Sunday.
SUPER BOWL PICK: I gave my NFL playoff teams last week. Today, you get my Super Bowl pick—although if you follow me on Twitter, you already know what it is.
A few years ago, at SoFi Stadium, Matthew Stafford and the Rams beat the Cincinnati Bengals to grab the Vince. This year’s game will be at SoFi, and the same two teams will play, but the difference this time is the Bengals find a way. Joe Burrow and company will win their first Super Bowl. Make your wagers now kids.
Of course, all of this gets flushed down the crapper if Burrow can’t play a full season and that has been an issue as most know.
THE MICHIGAN MIRACLE: The debate continues to the wild ending between the Michigan Wolverines-Western Michigan Mustangs last weekend. The Wolverines got an improbable victory when they cashed in on a Hail Mary after everyone thought the game was over only to discover there was one second or less than that to play.
When I watch the NHL, you will see goals scored just as the period is ending. When I am watching basketball, I will see shots go down as the buzzer sounds. In both, they go to the clock — a clock that has tenths of a second to see if the goal or basket should count. Football doesn’t have this and they should. Replays showed if there were tenths of a second on the score clock, there was less than a half second to play. That means the justification of another play is validated.
I fully understand the controversy surrounding the play and the thought process that Western Michigan got jobbed. Some people say if the roles were reversed this wouldn’t have happened. If Western Michigan had knocked the ball down like a defensive back is supposed to do on a Hail Mary, we would not be talking about this. If this is what leads football to change the score clock, I am all for it.
Some say gambling played a role as the books wanted Michigan to win. Well, let’s remember the Wolverines were 29-pointfavourites and there wasn’t a big return on them winning outright so I don’t think that’s the case. While Western Michigan didn’t cash in on the money line, they still covered.
Some of these people who believe this must have a brain the size of a peanut. Just ridiculous. Same with some of the conspiracies that have been developed as most of it would have had to happen in a very short amount of time for it to have those conspiracies have any element of truth to it.
ALEX FORMENTON: There is more outrage about the Edmonton Oilers signing Alex Formenton than there is about a woman who is trying to get off in the U.S. after murdering her three children. Yes, that is the world we are living in today boys and girls. Sort of sad isn’t it!
When I saw the news that the Oilers had signed Formenton, I had questions. This wasn’t a PTO? Did he tear up the Swiss League enough to warrant this? Yeah, Formenton is one of those who was involved in that London hotel room, and I am not going to get into that case and how it ended for obvious reasons.
To me, this does nothing to improve the image Stan Bowman has. The reaction we are seeing is exactly what I thought it would be in Canada which is why Carter Hart had no desire to play north of the 49th and the Oilers do deserve every piece of criticism that they get for this. Formenton is not a needle mover. I don’t think he is good enough to be in the NHL which is something you can say about a lot of guys who are there. It’s a signing that makes zero sense to me. Zero!
Meanwhile, a petition has been launched by an Oilers fan who has become famous for her garb come playoff time. “Mama Stanley” had no problem supporting the Oilers when bad boys Evander Kane and Corey Perry played for the team. She had no problem with Craig McTavish’s checkered past. She had no problem with Stan Bowman’s checkered past and the same with Mike Babcock. This is where she draws the line. Save me your outrage.
JACOB BEAULIEU: This kid is making an impression with the Swift Current Broncos. Beaulieu is already famous because of two big-time scraps in the pre-season including one last night against Medicine Hat. I couldn’t tell you anything about this kid and how much hockey talent he has or if he is there just to chuck knuckles. Hey, I love good fights just as much as the next guy, but if this kid can’t play is he just another Chad Rempe? Does hockey need guys like that anymore? That’s an argument that will never be won with each side having a good argument. Fans certainly aren’t disgusted when there is a good fight and the views of his two scraps have been are in the thousands. All I know about this kid is he was playing in the Quebec League last year. If he can help the Broncos in all aspects of the game then keep him around and be ready to see more fights on Twitter. If he is just there to fight, is it a waste of a roster spot in today’s hockey?
RANDOM THOUGHTS:
That’s all I got. Have a great week!
