Darren DuPont’s Moose Droppings
Each week I recap what’s happened the last 7 days, look ahead to the weekend and share whatever else is on my mind at the moment. Let’s get to it.
1. WHERE TO BEGIN? – How do we even begin to sort things out this week? Between the NFL Draft over the weekend, the NHL playoffs, the CFL Draft on Tuesday night, junior hockey and other things, my head is spinning! We will try to address some of it here today.
2. BATTLE OF ONTARIO – Ok, I would think Leafs Nation is a little nervous this morning after Ottawa’s 4-0 win in game five. Toronto carried much of the play but Ottawa found a way to break through and cut the series to 3-2. Game six in Ottawa Thursday night feels like a must-win for Toronto. They want no part of game seven against an Ottawa team with nothing to lose.
3. HERE WE GO AGAIN – This feels a lot like when Toronto blew a 3-1 series lead to Montreal and the Habs went on to play in the Stanley Cup final. Rod and I were there with the RP Show for a couple of shows from downtown Montreal. This Ottawa team has that same scrappy, fun to watch energy that the Canadiens had that year. Who knows what’s ahead?
4. IT’S OVER – The Edmonton Oilers are now in complete control of their first round series with the LA Kings. LA had a chance and probably should have won the series in 4-straight but the back-to-back comebacks by the Oilers have completely broken the Kings. Edmonton will win the series back in Edmonton in game six.
5. CFL DRAFT – The draft is always an interesting day. On one hand, you have a lot of Canadians who didn’t realize the draft was on Tuesday night while on the other it’s a fun and exciting day for CFL die hards. I will tell you that this is a special day for the players and their families and since I get to watch a lot of these players while calling university football in Canada, it’s special for me too. I love following the progression of players from playing Canadian University football to get a chance to play in the CFL. Sometimes I’m right when thinking of a players who could make it at the next level and sometimes I’m wrong. I find it a lot of fun to follow.
6. FAVOURITE PICKS – The Saskatchewan Roughriders selection of Indiana quarterback Kurtis Rourke is obviously an interesting one that will draw a lot of attention. The Riders are playing the long game here as Rourke will explore his NFL options at length before entertaining the CFL no doubt. I’m curious how long it will be before Taylor Elgersma joins the Winnipeg Blue Bombers who took him 18th overall. As you know, I’m a big fan and think he has a future as a pro quarterback either in the CFL or the NFL. My favourite pick might be Saskatchewan linebacker Lane Novak to Winnipeg at 45 or Calgary DB Nate Beauchemin to Montreal 14th overall.
7. THUNDERBIRDS – By my count UBC lead the way in the Canada West with five players selected. Montreal had six players selected, the most of any USports team. The Western Mustangs had five, the Alberta Golden Bears had four players selected. Big congrats to all the young men who heard there names called Tuesday night.
8. AYOMANOR – After being taken in the NFL draft, receiver Elic AYOMANOR jumped to the top of the CFL Scountimg Bureau’s draft rankings. On Tuesday, as predicted on the RP Show, the talented receiver went undrafted in the CFL draft. The reason? There is no sign he is headed north any time soon. He was a fourth round pick by the Tennessee Titans to be a weapon for newly drafted QB Cam Ward. Typically a player picked in that spot will be given several years to develop in the NFL. Plus, we’ve all seen the highlights by now of him torching Heisman winner Travis Hunter in their meeting last season. The kid is a player.
9. JETS – Stay calm Winnipeg. I know the last two games have left a bad taste in your mouths. Everywhere I go I hear people saying “same old Jets.” They are almost as fragile as Leafs fans right now. Look, St Louis is a really good team that was playing great hockey coming down the stretch. They weren’t going to be swept and won a pair of games at home. I’m not worried unless the Jets drop game 5 at home.
10. RANDOMS – I keep talking about movies but haven’t made it to the theatre. Perhaps this weekend… I have been watching a little TV and am hooked on the show “Super Pumped” on Netflix. It’s the story of Uber and its CEO Travis Kalanick. Very good… Blue Jays? Pass. I don’t think this is anything unexpected. So let’s move on… Shedeur Sanders was the obvious story of the NFL draft and so was the media’s coverage of it. Could you imagine if he actually came to Toronto to the Argos? If his dad shows up too it could be a media boom. Remember Gretzky, Candy, etc? This would be bigger. It might be the only thing that could truly capture the larger GTA market’s attention. Fun to think about.
Until next week,
DD
Great stuff When Deion Sanders stars in an equivalent to Uncle Buck, Summer Rental, The Great Outdoors, P.T.A and has a dramatic role in JFK then he can out himself in the McNall Gretzky Candy talk. And Rahib Ishmael was a legit 1st round pick. He played at Notre Dame….back when that meant something. As for Kurtis Rourke – I watch all the Big 10 games. Indiana bought a nice little football team. With that stated- go find the game film where he beats/dominated an Oregon (33rd NFL team)…..it never happened. He had a nice little run in the B10… Read more »
Oregon had the brakes beaten off them by Ohio State in the Rose Bowl. In what NFL were they the 33rd team? Does the Norwegian Football League have 33 teams? Should I bring up Will Howard’s Michigan game? What I’m most impressed by is that Rourke played the entire FBS season on a torn ACL. The 49ers can be patient with him. He’ll compete with Tanner Mordecai for 3rd QB to be inactive behind Purdy and McCorkle all season. Oh yeah, and they have some guy as coach with a history of developing overlooked QBs that sit (Cousins, Beathard, Mullens,… Read more »