DAYTONA HOMES FRIDAY RODSERVATIONS

10 HARD LAPS IN THE MORNING SKATE

1 – HOLY SHEETS:  The #1 question across the Wheat Province this winter, from both outside and inside the Saskatchewan Roughriders, is: “What are Dressler’s and Sheets’ chances of sticking in the NFL?”  Well we got a pretty good idea this week with the news of Sheets’s drug possession charge from March.  Sheets was on the bubble to begin with when you look at the Oakland Raiders’ depth chart at running back and when coaches and management start looking for reasons to cut a guy, Kory has unfortunately given them a glaring one.  Dressler, on the other hand, will give the Kansas City Chiefs absolutely no reason whatsoever to cut him.  Talent? Check.  Work ethic?  Check.  Attitude?  Check.  Coachable?  Check.  Get along with teammates?  Check. 

I even heard a rumour on Thursday that Dressler has purchased a house in Kansas City but it was quickly dismissed.  Weston’s not a “cart-before-the-horse” type of guy. 

There are those who feel the drug charge will not affect Sheets’ chances in any way.  Perhaps that’s true but one thing is clear; it won’t help.  If you don’t believe that, you have your head in the sand.

The Raiders aren’t commenting on the Sheets issue but frankly I’m surprised he’s still on their roster.  Soon the question will become: “Do the Riders want him back?”  And at what price.

2 – SETTING RECORDS:  The Sheets story on this blog generated, the last I looked, 140+ comments in the comment section which is a new record for this blog.  Amazingly the old record of 120 came back in 2007 during the Pats-Broncos WHL playoff series when Vaseline-Gate caused this broadcaster/blogger to require a police escort into the Credit Union I-Plex.  Fun times.

3 – SIMON SAYS … I DON’T KNOW:  This week’s news that the Roughriders are looking at restructuring receiver Geroy Simon’s contract for the 2014 season created barely a ripple across the Rider Nation.  Sportsnet’s Arash Madani theorized that the Riders are looking to cut Simon’s salary to sub-$100,000 to become more cap-friendly.  Outrage?  Hardly.  I’m told even Geroy expected this to happen and he’s currently deliberating his football future.  However cutting Chris Getzlaf’s wage would incite riots.  My guess is that the Rider Nation has yet to warm up to Geroy Simon because he simply hasn’t been here long enough, despite his heroics in the 2013 Grey Cup game in which he caught two touchdown passes in the 45-23 Rider romp over the Ticats.

4 – STAMPEDERS ARMS RACE:  Interesting story out of Calgary this week from the Herald newspaper’s Vicki Hall that quarterback Drew Tate’s throwing arm won’t be ready for the start of the 2014 season.  There’s some doubt it will be ready this season at all which makes you think Stamps Coach/GM John Hufnagel will be on the horn to Ottawa ASAP to work out a deal to reacquire the sturdy Kevin Glenn who continues to hold out with the REDBLACKS.  Vicki will be on the SportsCage on Friday to discuss the situation.

5 – IN A HUFF:  Hall’s story noted that Hufnagel is the CFL’s longest-serving head coach dating back to 2008 when he won a Grey Cup in his first season and was named Coach of the Year.  That got me to-thinking about the list of rookie head coaches in the league this year and it includes Edmonton (Chris Jones), Winnipeg (Mike O’Shea) and Ottawa (Rick Campbell).  Tom Higgins is entering Year 1 in Montreal but he’s hardly a rookie.  Scott Milanovich (Toronto), Mike Benevides (BC) and Corey Chamblin (Saskatchewan) are all entering Year 3 while Kent Austin (Hamilton) is entering Year 2.  That further got me to thinking…

6 – STUFF ONLY WE CARE ABOUT:  You can tell we’re deep into the WHL playoffs when they’re writing about the broadcasters and in Portland there was a nice story in the Tribune this week about Winterhawks play-by-play man Todd Vrooman.  He’s the son of legendary Winterhawks announcer Dean “Scooter” Vrooman who spent 25 seasons calling Portland games.  With the help of Saskatoon Blades voice Les Lazaruk, we compiled a list of the longest-tenured play-by-play men in the Dub:

Bob Ridley (MH) – 44 seasons
Dean Vrooman (PORT) – 25 seasons
Craig West (TRI, SPO) – 24 seasons
Bruce Luebke (BRAN) – 21 seasons
Les Lazurak (STN) – 20 seasons
Regan Bartel (KEL, SC) – 19 seasons
Brad Curle (CGY, LTH) – 17 seasons
Rod Pedersen (REG, PA, LTH) – 17 seasons
Cam Moon (RD) – 16 seasons
Jeff Hollick (KTN, LTH) – 15 seasons
Jon Keen (KAM, SC) – 11 seasons

7 – DUB TICKET SALES:  I’m told there’s some hand-wringing in the Edmonton Oilers’ office over the attendance for Games 3 and 4 of the WHL championship series between the Oil Kings and Portland Winterhawks.  Tuesday’s game drew 6799 to Rexall Place while 7859 took in Wednesday’s contest (both were Edmonton wins).  The prevailing notion is that there should be a minimum of 10,000 bums in the seats but one theory is that it’s a fan protest over the woes of the parent club, the Edmonton Oilers.  Who knows if it’s true?  That’s just one theory on the table.  It’s tough to ask people why they don’t attend games.

8 – WEISE UP: When did Dale Weise become the second coming of Steve Shutt?  The former Swift Current Broncos forward is the toast of the town in Montreal after scoring two huge goals in the playoffs for the Canadiens this spring.  He was even interviewed by CBC’s Scott Oake on the bench prior to Thursday night’s Game 4 against Boston.  The Winnipeg product was an afterthought with John Tortorella’s Vancouver Canucks this year but since going to Montreal at the trade deadline, he’s been a phenom.  I simply don’t remember him being that feared while with Swift Current although he had plenty of great battles in the corners with Pats defenceman Colten Teubert.  Good on the kid.

9 – MORE CIS ON THE TUBE?:  It’s a shame but most Canadian football fans likely know more top prospects for this week’s NFL Draft than they do for next week’s CFL Draft.  The reason?  Television.  And with this week’s announcement that TSN is adding a staggering three more channels to its lineup, here’s hoping the airtime is filled by CIS football rather than soccer, poker and darts.  The same goes for CIS hockey, basketball and volleyball.   Regarding Thursday night’s Round 1 in the NFL, Cleveland’s manoeuvring to select quarterback Johnny Manziel with the 22nd pick is eerily similar to the movie Draft Day.  People are dogging “Johnny Football” today for falling so far but he looked pretty happy to me.

10 – ANOTHER BROADCASTING NOTE:  Rogers Sportsnet’s anchor James Cybulski could singlehandedly replace TSN’s famed duo of Onrait and O’Toole as the funniest and most-entertaining late night sports talent in the land.  I catch Cybulski’s act on the morning loop but his antics regularly result in side-splitting laughter.  His new signature “PEACE!” when a major league slugger launches a long bomb always causes a grin, as does his devil-may-care attitude towards angering network executives.  An example is his penchant for calling the Blue Jays’ home stadium “Skydome”, rather than Rogers Centre.  “It will always be Skydome to me,” Cybulski smiled this week.  James also noted the Philadelphia Flyers have the toughest front office in the NHL with the likes of Bobby Clarke, Paul Holmgren and Ron Hextall.  “Give me a fourth round pick or I’ll punch you in the face!” Cybulski chuckled this week.

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