The Monday Morning Goalie For SUDS
Photo: Marcia McNaughton
TRUTH & RUMOURS FOR SUDS CAR WASH
1 – DOWN WEEK: Panic in the Rider Nation as the Green Guys lost 31-24 at BC on Friday night to fall to 8-6, and into third-place in the CFL West with four games to go. This, coming off a bye and after being shutout of the endzone in the Banjo Bowl in their prior game. In hockey, we say a team got “goalie-ed” when they run into a hot goaltender and lose. In this case, did the Riders get “QB’ed” on Friday in Vancouver? Saskatchewan won the Time Of Possession battle, allowed only one sack, lost the turnover battle by a narrow 1-0 margin, but also allowed Lions pivot Nathan Rourke to throw for four TDs as part of a 375-yard night. His QBR was a whopping 158.3! (Conversely, Saskatchewan’s Trevor Harris was 115.3. Respectable, but not at Rourke’s level). The Riders won’t miss the playoffs, but it doesn’t appear that they’ll host a home playoff game either. It’s incredibly difficult to win a Grey Cup and nearly impossible to repeat, especially in this era. Former President Jim Hopson said the only way to top winning the Grey Cup at home like we did in 2013 would be to win back-to-back Grey Cups. Lots of work to do here if that’s going to happen. This week’s game is huuuuuuge…
2 – THE REST: All the other outcomes in Week 17 were predictable. Winnipeg still can’t win if QB Zach Collaros doesn’t play and that was the case on Friday as Toronto won a thriller at Princess Auto Stadium, 30-28. That one was on CBS Sports Network here in the States and it was a beauty. Don’t look now but the Argos have won four in a row. … Predictably, Calgary bombed Ottawa 45-31 to stay in the West Division race while the RedBlacks fell to 0-14. Somewhere I saw somebody say Ottawa isn’t the *worst* team ever, but their record is. I can’t disagree. The RedBlacks remaining four games are vs Hamilton, at BC, vs Toronto and at Hamilton. Those games versus the Ticats will be Ottawa’s Grey Cup. … The week closed Saturday night with Hamilton putting a scare into Edmonton, before the Elks put ’em away in overtime 37-35. Vincent Blanchard nailed nine field goals for the Double E. Don’t worry about the 11-4 Elks. Those late-season scares are nothing more than wakeup calls.
3 – WEEK 18: The stretch drive continues with some biggies this week, and you’ve gotta love the CFL scheduling; doubleheaders on both Friday and Saturday. On Friday it’s Hamilton (4-11) at Ottawa (0-14) in a Friends & Family game (only friends and family care) followed by Calgary (7-8) at Saskatchewan (8-6). The early forecast calls for +17C for kickoff at Mosaic Stadium. … On Saturday it’s BC (8-6) at Toronto (9-6) in the Braley Bowl followed by Winnipeg (7-7) at Montreal (11-3).
4 – NOTES & STUFF: The 2026 Grey Cup halftime show will feature country star Riley Green at McMahon Stadium and the entertainment lineup includes Canadian music icons Sarah McLachlin and Blue Rodeo. Frankly I had no idea who Riley Green was until being around him at Country Thunder at Craven, SK in July and that’s another reason why those partnerships are so great. The last time I got to know the artists at Craven like that was in the early 90’s with Patty Loveless, Sawyer Brown, Charlie Pride & George Fox. Talk about being starstruck! Anyway, the CFL did a nice job here, and I realized I gotta get with the times. … On Wednesday news broke that CFL owners voted unanimously in favour of expanding the league to Quebec City, for a 10th franchise. Should we actually believe this is going to happen? I’m going along with it. Hopefully the CFL learned from the Halifax debacle, and don’t forget we’ve got a progressive new Commissioner and a lot of new owners (BC, Edmonton, Montreal, etc). This isn’t your dad’s CFL. … Maybe that should be their next marketing slogan…
5 – ROAR BY THE SHORE: When I was around the BC Lions in August, they’d overcome an 0-3 and 1-5 start and were 4-5 going into that August 23 home clash with Saskatchewan. They opened their doors to me at their training facilty/offices in Surrey, BC and it felt like a scene out of Vegas Vacation when the tour guide said, “Take all the dam pictures you want!” … They were calm, confident and collected and if you recall what I wrote back then, showed no signs of a team that had had such a rough start. The Lions had nothing to hide and were grateful for the publicity. They also knew they had an extraordinarily talented roster, a marquee quarterback, and a coaching staff that knows what it’s doing. And now, VOILA! It’s hard not to pull for an outfit like that. I can easily see them in the Grey Cup and if they are, I’ll probably go.
6 – NFL WEEK 3: The Las Vegas Raiders won three games in all of the 2025. This season they are 3-0 following Sunday’s 35-27 at New Orleans. … Miami put up a great fight against Kansas City, but their back broke in the fourth quarter of an eventual 24-10 loss to the Chiefs. … Please don’t ask me about the 1-2 Dallas Cowboys. It looked like they were gonna — and then they didn’t — in a 34-31 loss to Baltimore in Brazil on a walkoff field goal. Really, how bout them Cowboys? … Denver Broncos-LA Rams was my Super Bowl pick. What a match-up that would be! On Sunday Night Football the Broncos posted 30 second half points to stun the Rams 30-26 in the Mile High City. … Week 3 closes with 2-0 Philadelphia at 1-1 Chicago on Monday Night Football.
7 – COLLEGE FOOTBALL: #1 CFL Draft prospect Ty Benefield led all LSU tacklers with 7 and is being credited with being the biggest reason Texas A&M QB Marcel Reed was limited to 13 yards rushing and 106 yards passing in the Tigers’ 35-6 win over the Aggies. Ty was moved from safety to rush end for this game and he shone. “Those perimeter runs and quarterback runs,” LSU coach Lane Kiffin said of Benefield after the game. “That’s a really great tackler right there, and rerouting perimeter plays and stuff.” … In the 2027 CFL Draft you’ll also likely hear the name of Texas longsnapper Trey Dubuc, son of CFL alum and current RP Show football analyst Matt Dubuc. The Longhorns won 20-17 at Tennessee in a thriller on Saturday and Trey’s been told by CFL scouting personnel that he’d already be in the top-third of current CFL long-snappers. Remember the name. … In other Week 4 matches, Chris Jones’ Lousiana-Monroe was trounced 45-17 by Florida Atlantic, Henry Burris was in the ESPN booth for Tulane’s 24-21 win over Southern Mississippi, Miami embarrassed Central Michigan 52-3 and Florida rolled Ole Miss 52-28.
8 – NHL: The preseason wrapped up Saturday and Tampa Bay’s 3-2 shootout win at Florida had way more spice and intensity than your typical exhibition game. The NHL’s new 4-game preseason is getting the “thumbs-up” from players, coaches, management and broadcasters alike. NHL Radio’s Scott Laughlin told the RP Show this week that the league “found the sweet spot” with this formula. There’s no monotony, and there’s just the right amount of time to tuneup the vets and give the young guys/bubble players time to show their stuff. Let the games begin! … I chuckled at the fan survey released this week that listed the most-hated teams in the NHL as being 1-Vegas, 2-Florida, 3-Toronto, 4-Montreal and 5-NY Rangers. Chuckled because the top two are the ones I have the closest relationship with and am very, very, very grateful for that. The least-hated team in the NHL? The Seattle Kraken. … FYI on Friday we signed off on the deal which renewed the RP Show on Silver State Sports Network in Las Vegas for another season. The Sin City viewers like what we’re selling and I couldn’t be more grateful! Thank you. I’d tell what we’re doing but Colonel Sanders never revealed his 11 herbs & spices…
9 – JUNIOR LOOP: Not gonna lie, what caught my eye the most this week was the SJHL Hall of Fame festivities going on in Flin Flon where the Bombers have commenced their 100th season. Going into the SJ Hall of Fame this weekend were Bomber icons Mike Reagan, Tim Madarash, Rob Beck, broadcaster Rockin’ Rob Hart and the 1992-93 SJHL champion Bombers coached by Norm Johnston. I was stationed at CKBI radio in Prince Albert back then, and remember that team well. … The Regina Pats won their home-opener on Sunday, 6-2 over the Swift Current Broncos, before 3,931 spectators at the Brandt Centre. It evened their record at 1-1-0-1 which includes a nine-round shootout loss at Brandon on Friday. … Following an 0-6 preseason, the Moose Jaw Warriors are 2-1 including a 3-1 victory over Brandon on Saturday in the Remple Temple. … The lone unbeaten team in the Eastern Conference after two weeks is the 3-0 Calgary Hitmen. Five teams are undefeated on the West side.
10 – RANDOM THOUGHTS: People use the term “clickbait” like it’s a bad thing. … So taboo is sportsbetting these days that the latest trend is “sports trading” where bettors are being enticed to “buy stock” in teams on newly-formed websites and apps like Kalshi. Gross! We’ll stick with our straight-up picks just for fun, where nobody loses their house. … Sportsnet is debuting the new show “Frankly Hockey” with Frank Seravalli and John Buccigross – both Americans – on TV & radio on Monday. Canadian hockey fans and patriots are up-in-arms but apparently that’s what Rogers wants! It would be hypocritical for me to complain about it, with the inroads we’ve made in the USA with our coverage. Besides, why would Rogers want a show like ours which discusses NHL, CFL, NFL, Blue Jays, Jr. Hockey, etc. daily? … Dairy Queen has introduced the Snickers Blizzard. You may not hear from me for awhile. … On a yearslong hunt for thousands of U.S. silver coins squirreled away in Norway, police investigating a money laundering case finally got a lucky break: A tip about a van swerving on a highway outside Oslo. When officers pulled the vehicle over for inspection they discovered tens of thousands of American Eagle silver coins. A second van that arrived shortly afterward was found to be carrying tens of thousands more. The total take: Nearly 67,000 coins worth at least 25 million Norwegian krone (about $2.65 million), officials said. Three Norwegians have been sentenced to prison over the illegal possession of the coins. The convictions on charges of aggravated money laundering followed allegations that proceeds from a “major investment scheme” in the United States had been converted into millions of dollars worth of coins. … AND HOW WAS YOUR WEEK?
Y’er welcome,
RP
