DAYTONA HOMES FRIDAY RODSERVATIONS

QUICK HITS

– Friday marks Day 6 of the Saskatchewan Roughriders’ 2014 Training Camp here in Saskatoon and it hasn’t exactly flown by.  Since the players, coaches and staff are on the go from 6:00 am until about 10:00 pm daily, it has to have been a gruelling week and there’s still plenty of time left before the team’s first pre-season game on Saturday, June 14 at home against Ottawa.  While the team has been put up at the University of Saskatchewan’s residences, it’s been great for me to stay at the beautiful Park Town Hotel across the University Bridge on the edge of downtown.  Their slogan is “The Only Thing We Overlook Is The River” and it’s been a wonderful home-away-from-home.

– Saskatoon certainly is a bustling city with seemingly many more cars on the road than Regina.  It definitely has a “big city” feel and our trips up here are always enjoyable.  However it has no fewer potholes than Regina.  I’ve been pretty much hip-to-hip with CKRM football analyst Luc Mullinder all week long and we’ve hit our fave Saskatoon eating spots: Great Buffet of China, Fuddrucker’s and State & Main.

– What exactly is Saskatoon’s nickname anyways?  Toon Town, the River City, the Hub City, the Bridge City — they go by it all.  Regina has one; the Queen City.  Boom.  We’re in the same province but these two cities couldn’t be any more different.

– Rider head coach Corey Chamblin picked an interesting time to rip into his troops on Thursday saying “We’re a very average football team right now”.  Everything out of Chamblin’s mouth is extremely calculated so there had to be a strategy behind why and when he made that comment.  It should clarified however, that he wasn’t talking about the team’s talent.  Those comments seemed to discourage a lot of the Rider Nation about the state of their beloved football team but Corey was simply pointing out that they aren’t practicing like a championship-calibre ball club right now.  If anyone knows what that is, it’s Chamblin.   Running backs have gashed big holes in the defense, passes have been short-hopped or dropped and there have been obvious mental lapses where players weren’t where they are supposed to be.  That’s going to happen, but it’s not coming together as quickly as Chamblin had hoped.

– It’s been interesting to watch the progression of Chamblin in each of the past three training camps and he’s admitting to learning a lot along the way.  He’s a much calmer coach now compared to his rookie year but there’s never been any doubt who’s in charge.  Like players, things have been slowing down for Corey with each passing year and it likely doesn’t seem like as much of a blur.  He pointed out that he reads this blog daily to see what he may have missed during the workouts because he can’t keep his eye on everything at once.  I asked him where he finds the time to read blogs and he said he checks what’s being said on the internet nightly.  I can’t imagine he sleeps much.

– It happens like clockwork this time of year.  The rookies’ families find this blog and write in requesting updates on how their player is doing.  Usually it’s Canadians, but sometimes it’s Americans.  Luc Mullinder put it best saying, “Look, the only Canadian receiver we’re following is Getzlaf!”   Basically if they do something to stand out, it will be written up on this blog.  However we can’t do scouting reports on 80 guys.  We’re not the coaches anyway.

– I heard a rumour that former Roughrider Kory Sheets has been hit with a team-imposed four game suspension by the Oakland Raiders for his drug charge in March.  However I haven’t been able to find any confirmation on the story.  Meanwhile in Kansas City, Chiefs followers have been wowed by Weston Dressler’s speed and hands.  Isn’t that what we all said would happen?

– Receiver Eron Riley is leaps and bounds ahead of where he was last year at this time.  He’s spent time with the “1’s” and catches pretty much everything around him.  He’s got a clean slate too because on Wednesday the charges against him were stayed from last summer’s bar brawl.

– Luc Mullinder has been a fantastic addition to our stable of talent on Rider Radio 620 CKRM and we’re excited to announce another.  Recently-retired linebacker Mike McCullough will be joining CKRM as a game day analyst and SportsCage contributor.  Welcome aboard Mike! #championshipteam

– Easily the funniest photo of the week so far:

Rider lineman Brendon Labatte is going back and forth between the dorms and cafeteria on this medichair which belonged to his late grandfather.  It doesn’t go as fast as “Blue” would like but he said it will have to wait until he gets home to give it a turbo-charge.  It’s a hilarious sight to see him crossing the streets and navigating the campus on this thing.  Dan Plaster of the Riders put this photo on Twitter (@dan_plaster).

– With Geroy Simon’s retirement announcement on Wednesday, Rider great Don Narcisse can breathe a sigh of relief.  Don’s pro football record of consecutive-games-with-a-catch streak is still safe at 216.  Geroy was roughly thirty games behind and Narcisse had been doing the math.

– No one is saying much publicly about the looming CFL players’ strike but everyone is bracing for it.  From what I can piece together, they’ll walk out of training camps on Tuesday morning but the holdout won’t last past a couple of days.  Sportsnet’s Arash Madani reported overnight that the league will likely table a new proposal today.

– I created an email loop with the eight other CFL play-by-play men for daily updates from across the league and it’s worked out splendidly.  Here are some notes from the other training camps:

* In Kamloops at BC Lions camp, quarterback Travis Lulay has yet to throw a pass as he recovers from off-season shoulder surgery.  The draft day acquisition of QB Kevin Glenn is paying dividends for BC now and he has a great working relationship with new offensive coordinator Khari Jones from their Hamilton days.  One has to wonder who will be under centre in Week 1.

* In Calgary, veteran receiver Nik Lewis missed the first two days of practice with injury but has since resumed practicing.  The Stamps are going with an all-import secondary and rookie Ryan Steed appears to be the front-runner to replace the suspended Quincy Butler on the corner.  Offensive coordinator Dave Dickenson “blew up” at his backfield on Thursday after a series of blown assignments.

* In Winnipeg, Drew Willy is entrenched as the starting quarterback and has drawn rave reviews from rookie head coach Mike O’Shea.  However the Blue Bombers were dealt a blow when Canadian defensive tackle Ryan Lucas went down with a season-ending ligament tear.  Luc Mullinder pointed out that’s huge because Lucas was very familiar with the scheme of new defensive coordinator Gary Etcheverry from their days in Saskatchewan.

* In Edmonton, Mike Reilly is entrenched as the #1 pivot with Matt Nicholls at #2.  Running back Hugh Charles will be featured more in the offense this season.  Rookie head coach Chris Jones has instilled a quick pace to their workouts.

* In Toronto, the Argos are looking for a replacement at running back with the loss of incumbent Chad Kackert who’s recovering from a broken leg.  So far no one is a clear leader of the pack.  However they are not ruling out a comeback for Kackert.

* In Hamilton, Kent Austin is toying with starting five Canadians on defense (DL Ted Laurent, Brian Bulcke, LB Frederic Plesius, S Craig Butler and CB Courtney Stephen).  Offensive lineman Peter Dyakowski has been placed on the nine-game injured list as he recovers from a broken kneecap suffered in the Grey Cup.

– The Stanley Cup Finals got off to a roaring start with the L.A. Kings’ 3-2 overtime win over the New York Rangers Wednesday in Staples Centre.  We watched the game at Saskatoon’s Shark Club but most eyes were on the Blue Jays game at Detroit!  This is the first time in a generation that there’s been so much chatter here on the prairies about Canada’s baseball team.  They’re exciting to watch!

– It’s Mosaic weekend in Regina and it began Thursday evening.  Perhaps I’ll see you out and about.  My favourite pavilions are the Greek and the Italian.

—

THAT’S ALL! SEE YOU IN THE CAGE AT 4 PM
RP
@sportscage