DAYTONA HOMES FRIDAY RODSERVATIONS

15 GAME NOTES AND OBSERVATIONS

1 – THE USUAL: The Saskatchewan Roughriders (9-7) visit the Calgary Stampeders (13-2) Friday evening at 7:30 pm on TSN and the 620 CKRM Rider Radio Network.  It’s the second of a two-game season series between the CFL West Division rivals.  Calgary won 31-24 back on October 3 in Regina in Week 15 action.   The forecast for the game calls for sunshine and a high of 10 degrees Celsius (50 above Fahrenheit) with a west wind at 30 km/h.  The Stampeders are favoured by nine points in the showdown.

Brendon Labatte (pictured above) will miss his third straight game with an upper body injury that’s becoming increasingly concerning.  With all the bad luck the Riders have experience in 2014, perhaps at some point we may have to face the reality that perhaps this just isn’t our year.

2 – BO KNOWS?: Calgary quarterback Bo-Levi Mitchell has set a CFL record going 14-1 as a starter (6-1 at home) but will be making his first career start against the Roughriders.  Kerry Joseph gets the ball for Saskatchewan.  With last week’s 24-19 loss to Edmonton, Joseph is now 18-14 as a starter for the Roughriders.  He’s 7-6 versus Calgary.

3 – THE MATCH-UP:  The Stampeders have won ten of the last 12 meetings between the two clubs including the last six straight at McMahon Stadium.  Saskatchewan hasn’t won in Calgary in the regular season since August of 2009.

4 – PLAYOFF STREAKS:  Calgary has already clinched first place in the CFL West for an 18th time.  Only Edmonton has won more West Division pennants (22).  This is the 10th consecutive season Calgary has qualified for the CFL playoffs.  The Riders have clinched as well, for a third straight season.  They’ve been in the playoffs 12 of the past 13 years.

5 – RECORD WATCH:  Rider kick returner Tristan Jackson needs 59 more return yards to surpass Rider Hall of Famer Corey Holmes for #9 all-time in CFL history.  T-Jack to the Plaza of Honor?  Why not.  He’s won as many Grey Cups!

6 – DURANT UPDATE:  The Saskatchewan Roughriders are 54-42-1 with Darian Durant as their quarterback dating back to 2008.  They are 11-16 without him.  Durant was placed on the 6-game injured list on Thursday – to save salary cap room – but could be activated later in the regular season or in the playoffs.

7 – A DIAMOND IN THE ROUGH:  Rider linebacker and special teams ace Diamond Ferri will play in his 100th career CFL game Friday night at Calgary.  The three-time Grey Cup champion was clearly signed recently because he exemplifies the fiery “win at all costs” attitude Corey Chamblin is looking for.

8 – RUN THE BALL AND DON’T TURN IT OVER:  The team which rushes the ball the most is 60-9 in the CFL this season while the team which wins the turnover battle is also 60-9.

9 – QUARTERBACK CONSISTENCY:  Only two CFL teams have had the same starting quarterback for each and every game as we enter Week 18.  They are Toronto (Ricky Ray) and Ottawa (Henry Burris).

10 – STILL WAITING:  RedBlacks quarterback Henry Burris has gone four straight games without throwing a touchdown pass.  That’s a career long drought.  His next TD pass will move him past Ron Lancaster into #3 all-time in CFL history at 334.  He’s been waiting awhile.

11 – THREE-IN-THREE:  See what all the fuss is about!  The Regina Pats play three games in three nights this weekend beginning this evening in Swift Current.  Saturday and Sunday the Pats host the Swift Current Broncos and Lethbridge Hurricanes respectively.  The Pats certainly are a fun team to watch!  The Pats are fourth in the East Division, behind Brandon, Swift Current and Moose Jaw.  They are ahead of P.A. and Saskatoon.  If you reside in Regina and area, do you care about the Regina Pats right now?  Or is it true no one cares until Roughrider season is over?

12 – ROCK YOU LIKE A HURRICANE:  The Flames routed the Carolina Hurricanes 5-0 here last night.  We didn’t go.  You have to feel bad for rookie Carolina head coach Bill Peters.  His first head coaching job in the NHL is with the league’s worst team (0-4-2).  Miraculously, GM Jim Rutherford left that team in squalor and wound up running the Pittsburgh Penguins.  I was also surprised to learn Thursday night was Jonas Hiller’s 22nd career shutout.  That’s a lot of shutouts.

13 – THE O’DOG:  Initially I wasn’t a fan of TSN hockey analyst Jeff O’Neil but he’s growing on me.  (I’m kind of leery of neck tattoos).  However O’Neil is knowledgeable and he keeps getting more and more entertaining each time he’s on the air.  A laugh out loud moment this week was when TSN panelist Aaron Ward was kidding host James Duthie about his ever changing hair colour.  (He dyes it you know).  And how about analyst Mike Johnston?  TSN built him up like the next best thing and then he turned around and kicked them in the teeth by jumping to Sportsnet.  It’s a dirty business!

14 – I DISAGREE:  New Sportsnet anchor Carly Agro said this week, “The playoffs are when you find out who the real fans are!”   I couldn’t disagree more.  You find out who the real fans are in Week 1 of the regular season.  Those are the ones who show up all year long and don’t jump on or off the bandwagon.   I’m not sure what she meant by that.

15 – SLOW DOWN FOR GOD’S SAKE!:  Each day I pick my kid up from school and while I’m waiting, it’s astounding to see how many people RACE through school zones.  Typically it’s teenaged boys.  Some of these idiots actually PICK UP speed as they’re going through a 40 km/h zone.  Your perspective changes once you have school-aged kids and their life is on the line.  Please slow down in school zones.

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ENJOY TONIGHT’S GAME!
RP
@sportscage