DAYTONA HOMES FRIDAY RODSERVATIONS
25 WEEKEND ODDS ‘N ENDS
1 – The Saskatchewan Roughriders (9-5) visit the Montreal Alouettes (5-8) on Thanksgiving Day Monday in an 11:00 am kickoff Sask time (TSN, CKRM Rider Radio Network). In their only other meeting this season, the Riders won 16-11 on August 16 in Regina as quarterbacks Darian Durant and Alex Brink duelled for their respective clubs. This time around it figures to be Tino Sunseri against Jonathan Crompton. The forecast for Montreal on Monday calls for a high of 16 degrees Celsius with a 60% chance of showers. The Alouettes are favoured by 3.5 points.
2 – Last Friday’s 31-24 home loss to Calgary was the first time this season the Riders have lost a game in the final 3:00. They were 6-0 prior to that, and it speaks to this club’s ability to come together to win games late. It’s about culture, and the Riders have a good one. Calgary is still building theirs.
3 – They’re not dumb in Calgary however. VisitCalgary.com is advertising in the SportsCage. I believe the radio ad goes something like, “Be there when the Rider Nation invades Calgary November 24!” Thanks for the support! By the way, it’s not too late to vote for the SportsCage and for RodPedersen.com in the 2014 Best of Regina poll at Prairie Dog Magazine. The voting is at http://prairedogmag.secondstreetapp.com/l/Best-Of-Regina-2014/Welcome
4 – The Riders’ spirit was zapped for a period due to the injury to Darian Durant on September 7 but Coach Corey Chamblin said this week that their comeback against the Stampeders proved to the team they still have a chance in 2014. He feels the “gloom and doom” from their September adversity could be behind them and their minds are right again.
5 – The Hamilton Tiger-Cats were September’s hottest team in the CFL – going 4-1 – and their current four game winning streak is the club’s longest since 1998 when they won six in a row. The Ticats visit Toronto Friday evening in a game most CFL observers feel is the marquee match-up of Week 16.
6 – With the addition of quarterback Kerry Joseph to the Riders this week, we checked to see how many of his teammates from the 2007 Grey Cup championship team remain. The answer is five: Chris Best, Neal Hughes, Chris Getzlaf, Darian Durant and John Chick. Kerry makes six.
7 – A SportsCage listener from Moosimin wanted to wager a bet on Thursday that Kerry Joseph won’t take 10 snaps for the Riders the rest of the way in 2014. I’d take that bet. Hopefully the play of Tino Sunseri and/or Seth Doege means Joseph’s services won’t be called upon but I’d be willing to bet Joseph gets a start somewhere down the line.
8 – Furthermore, SportsCage co-host Kelly Remple figures the Riders can’t win a Grey Cup with Sunseri or Joseph as their starter. I respectfully disagree.
9 – Kicker Paul McCallum’s miss of an 18-yard field goal in overtime of the 2004 West Final at B.C. was TSN’s #9 play this week in their Sportscentre Top 10 All-Time Playoff Mishaps. Bill Buckner’s gaffe for Boston in the 1986 World Series was #1.
10 – There six coaches challenges in the CFL last week and of those, three were successful. Overall there have been 79 challenges with 23 plays being overturned.
11 – Teams who have out-rushed their opponent are 53-8 so far this season.
12 – This is the last weekend of interlocking games in the CFL. East Division teams have won eight of their last nine games against West Division foes. No one’s calling for playoff realignment now.
13 – Ottawa quarterback Henry Burris makes his 200th career start Saturday night when the RedBlacks visit the B.C. Lions. He is 102-94-3 as a starter. Hank also needs one more touchdown pass to go past Ron Lancaster for #3 all-time (333). Anthony Calvillo is the CFL’s all-time leader with 455 touchdown passes.
14 – The B.C. Lions are in danger of missing the playoffs for the first time since 1996. They carry a three game losing streak into Saturday’s match however they’ve made the playoffs the past 17 consecutive seasons which is a league high.
15 – B.C. linebacker Solomon Elimimian needs 16 more tackles to tie J.C. Sherritt’s single-season record of 130. The Edmonton linebacker accomplished the feat in 2012. However where’s he gone since?
16 – B.C. defensive back Ryan Phillips has the CFL’s longest current ironman streak at 176 games. That’s one behind Lions great Norm Fieldgate (a Regina product). Defensive lineman Brent Johnson has the club record at 184.
17 – The Ottawa RedBlacks are the only team in the CFL to score on six straight possessions in 2014. They did it last week in a 42-20 win over Winnipeg. The Blue Bombers aren’t exactly carrying momentum into Monday’s divisional showdown at Edmonton.
18 – Edmonton DE Odell Willis and Ottawa DT Keith Shologan will appear in their 100th career CFL games this weekend.
19 – There’s a rumour going around that Paul Lapolice may be in line to be the next coach of the U of R Rams. I’ve heard it several times over the past month. I spoke to the TSN analyst about it this week and he said he’d be willing to listen to what the Rams have to offer.
20 – Rumours are rampant over who the next President of the Saskatchewan Roughriders will be. The head-hunting search is well underway, led by former Roughrider fullback Greg Fieger. They hope to have someone hired by the New Year. One name which has popped up belongs to former Edmonton Eskimos V.P. of Business Greg Treble. He’s a Regina product and former Regina Ram.
21 – This weekend the 1974 Regina Pats Memorial Cup Championship team will be honoured on its 40th anniversary. Just about all members of that squad will be on hand with the exception of those whom have passed, and L.A. Kings pro scout Robbie Laird who has work commitments. Names like Clark Gillies, Dennis Sobchuk and Ed Staniowski will be in Regina for the festivities which include Friday evening’s Pats home game against Tri-City. There will be a luncheon on Saturday at the Press Box Sports Bar from noon to 4:00 pm. You can get your tickets at the door.
22 – The opening two nights of the NHL regular season have been fun to watch, if not edge-of-your-seat stuff. Last night was a little more fun to watch and Oilers fans are already moaning about their 5-2 loss to Calgary in the home-opener. The pregame ceremony was all full of pomp and circumstance – including The Great One himself – and then they went out and wet themselves. The Flames were up 2-0 before many had gotten to their seats. Calgary went on to a 5-2 romp, alleviating any concerns about lack of offense after their 4-2 loss to Vancouver the night before.
23 – I waited all day to watch the Jets and Coyotes from Arizona, and cheer on my friend Gary Drummond’s Coyotes, when disaster struck. Announcers Matt McConnell and Tyson Nash had just finished their pregame intro and threw it down to Michael Buffer at ice level for a “LLLLLLET’S GET READY TO RUMBLE!” when my TV screen froze. Apparently the free preview for NHL Center Ice on Access doesn’t work on ALL cable boxes. So if you’re going to take advantage of it – or purchase the package – call 306-569-2225 and ensure you have the proper cable box! It’s no extra charge. Then you can watch your favourite NHL team all winter long.
By the way, does Regina enjoy the NHL or WHL more?
Regarding the Coyotes, NHL Commissioner Gary Bettman was in Phoenix and spoke to reporters prior to Thursday’s home-opener. He said the club is headed in the “right direction” under the IceArizona ownership group and the club is in Arizona to stay. He also said the NHL will be awarding an All-Star Game to Phoenix in the near future. “We owe you one,” Bettman said.
24 – The 1-4 University of Regina Rams have a bye weekend before heading to UBC and then concluding the regular season with a pair of home dates. Meanwhile the PFC’s Regina Thunder take a 4-2-1 record into Sunday’s home game against Winnipeg (1 pm kickoff, Access 7). Coach Scott MacAuley feels they stand a good chance at repeating as national champions! Regina – City of Champions. That reminds me, the 1974 Memorial Cup championship was great and all, but the photos are black and white and the players are in tube skates with wooden sticks. It’s time for the Pats to claim junior hockey’s top prize and there would be no better place to do it than in Red Deer in 2016! Congrats to the Rebels for being named as hosts this week by the way.
25 – Finally, a rant. There should be separate lineups at the till for two separate, yet equally frustrating groups of people: those who buy handfuls of lottery tickets and those who buy breakfast bagels and that type of thing at Tim Hortons. GOOD GRIEF! There’s nothing more frustrating than standing behind these people. Pearson Airport in Toronto has it figured out … Tim Hortons has one line for coffee people and another for those who want a sit-down meal. As for lottery people, I haven’t figured out the solution just yet.
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HAPPY THANKSGIVING – I’M THANKFUL FOR YOU!
RP
@sportscage
What the hell is all this hype about Greg Treble for? So he's from Regina and he played for the Rams. Big whoop. There are far better candidates out there, like Gene Makowsky or even Mr O'Day.
"Overall there have been 79 challenges with 23 plays being overturned." Well that gives me 23 reasons why the rule must stay in effect.
The only downfall is that the replay officials are simply too slow in the whole process of reviewing. If it was quicker, no one would complain, nor would the flow of the game be so disrupted.
Kel in Victoria
Video reviews suck the life out of a football game.
NOT ONE single mention of hockey. NHL season started, Pats are playing, Midget AAA.
I used to come to this blog for a general blend of sports and now its all Rider, Riders, CFL.
^^^ God bitchers like you are draining buddy.
Tanner
One thing – before I get to a few things:
1) You heard it here first I gave you guys a short list of CEO candidates. Greg Treble was top of the list so ahhh yeah – don't tell me I don't know my stuff.
….Greg Fieger is a good man, I've worked with him before…he can thank me….again…for giving him a good candidate:)
Y'er Welcome
Obama
Greg Treble will probably do more today than you will in your whole life pal. And he's got more years working in a CFL front office than Makowsky and O'Day combined.
MERV
Hey Anon 3 – read item 21,22 & 23. Looks like hockey reference to me…Besides real hockey doesn't start til football season is over.
RS Saskatoon
#19) LaPolice is better then university football. If he waits long enough the REDBLACKS or Lions might come calling for his services.
#23) its $150 for the season. Less then a ticket to one game. Imo its worth every penny to a hockey fan. Plus then CBC. .. err Rogers wont be able to subject you to watching just the maple leafs and flames.
#26) Packers/Dolphins on Sunday should be a gooder. Go Fins!
Coyotes games was on tsn3 but you didn't miss much. My Yotes got pounded by the jets. My flag is still waiving in the backyard proudly though and IF they ever win anything I will never be called a bandwagon jumper that's for sure. With this team it's more like riding a mechanical bull.
I agree with you Roddy regarding the Tim's and lottery ticket morons.
FFS, you stand in the line for 5 minutes and when its your turn you can't decide what kind of breakfast sandwich you want or how many??
That pisses me off, I wish there was a coffee only Tim's.
Oh Scruffy alerted me the Jets broadcast was on Access 283 but I'd have preferred the 'Yotes. And you're right, Mike Smith had an off game. Too bad with 17,000 on hand.
There is nothing worse than going to a Tim’s drive thru and ending up waiting forever because the person 2 cars in front of you is ordering breakfast for their entire office.
Tim’s drive thru should be drink orders only and if you want food, go inside.
Aw gee Merv, did I hit a nerve? Please don't swerve and hit the curve like a perv. So O'Day doesn't have the amount of experience in the front office Treble does. So what. He's already proven in his short time under Taman that he knows the game inside out and has a good business acumen to boot. Plus the talk has been that we need a good football guy at the top of the organization. On that front, O'Day beats Treble hands down. But hey, Treble does more in a day than I'll do in my whole life so… Read more »
"1) You heard it here first I gave you guys a short list of CEO candidates. Greg Treble was top of the list so ahhh yeah – don't tell me I don't know my stuff." Obama
Didn't Obama tell us that he invented the Internet too?
Y'er welcome
…a few things: 1) What's the big deal about Greg Treble – you know all the things CFL teams take for granted now like online presence, NFL style presentation, corporate systems to which the list goes on. The Eskimos were the first to do all this – ALL under the direction of Greg Treble. He was my first pick. He worked for what was the flagship franchise, he is from Regina, and he has a Rams pedigree. The only thing Greg will be missing is the ability to play politics. In Saskatchewan you need to understand how the levels of… Read more »
The fact Remple doesn't think we can win a GC with Sunseri or Joseph makes me even more convinced we can. Listening on Thursdays with that windbag is a real exercise Rod. He makes listening to the Green Zone somewhat tolerable.
Was looking at the Pats '74 roster and realized that was the good old days of cheering for 'our' boys. Yeh I suppose it's the mark of an old dineseur but I loved watching Sillinger Splett Markwart Heward etc as Pats after watching them develop over all those years of kids hockey. It certainly got me out to the games.
I agree that LAPO is much bigger than the U of R, even though he'd do wonders with that program. The guys should be a head coach and Winnipeg threw him under the bus. I still love Cirtez and he'll get us I've the hump BUT if we had some classic LAPO screens and misdirection like he used to do with an inexperienced Durant, the Riders probably wouldn't be 1-3 in our last 4. Just sayin'
#6; John Chick is the only one that has been healthy.
The Tim's in downtown Saskatoon does have an "Express Line" (beverage only) that is separate from the regular line, but it has 3 cashiers. Maybe not feasible at locations with only 2 tills.