DAYTONA HOMES MONDAY MORNING GOALIE

A BROADCASTER’S VIEW:

SUPER BOWL XLIX THOUGHTS

– Sunday’s 49th NFL title game in Glendale, AZ will go down as one of the greatest in Super Bowl history.  You all watched it.  New England rookie defender Malcolm Butler picked off Seattle quarterback Russell Wilson at the Patriots’ 1-yard line by cutting underneath intended receiver Ricardo Lockette to effectively end the game with a half minute to go.  The Patriots held on for a 28-24 victory to capture their fourth Super Bowl in the Belichick-Brady era.

– At 3:48 pm on Sunday I tweeted that New England would win by four points or less.  It was a lucky guess, but I wish I’d put money on it.  As it was, I won $40 in our pool at the SportsCage Super Bowl Party at the Four Seasons Sports Palace so it was a win-win.

– New England quarterback Tom Brady won his third Super Bowl MVP award but it was far from a perfect day.  He threw two interceptions and delivered several balls into the dirt.  However in the end, when the chips were down, Tom delivered as he’s done time-after-time.  Perhaps that why the voters went in the direction they did.

– It seems like half of Regina was in Phoenix for Super Bowl week.  In fact at times it felt like we were the only ones who didn’t go.  CKRM football analyst Luc Mullinder wants to take the SportsCage to San Francisco for Super Bowl XLX but it sounds like there will never be another great week like the one they just had in the Valley of the Sun.

– The Four Seasons was packed and afterwards football fans were in my face feverishly asking, “Who made the call? Who made the call?” in reference to Seattle’s decision to throw rather than hand the ball off to power back Marshawn Lynch.  I offered that it was the Seahawks Offensive Coordinator Darrell Bevell.  However perhaps Seattle coach Pete Carroll over-rode him.  Who knows?  In the aftermath, Carroll wasn’t pointing fingers.  He said it was a collective effort.

“We decided to call the other call and we make these decisions every game all the time,” Carroll said frantically.  “They work out sometimes and they don’t other times.  This one didn’t work out right for us.  We could’ve run it and got stuffed.  We could have run it and scored.  We could’ve scored against their goal line as well.  I know that could’ve happened.  It wasn’t just a great football thought at the time.  In retrospect we could’ve easily run it and we wouldn’t be talking about this.  We might’ve run it and got stuffed on third and fourth down.  I don’t know.  I don’t know what would’ve happened.  This is what happened.”

I’ve said many times that football is the perfect game of “hindsight”.  Had Lockette caught the pass and scored, Carroll would have been hailed as a genius because everyone in the world was expecting a hand-off to Lynch.  Still, even the NFL’s official Twitter account labelled it as “the worst call of all time”.

– Many are comparing the ending to the 13th Man incident in the 2009 Grey Cup.  For the Seahawks, it likely feels that way but it’s apples and oranges and nothing will ever compare.

Terry Breehn wins a Bud Light NFL fridge at the 4Seasons

– Seahawks punter Jon Ryan will be in a dismal mood when he appears at Friday’s Kinsmen Sports Celebrity Dinner at the Delta Regina.  Fortunately I won’t have to be the one asking him questions on stage.  That honour belongs to Julie Stewart-Binks of Fox Sports 1.

– Is there a better channel for football coverage than the NFL Network?  Their wall-to-wall coverage of Super Bowl XLIX festivities in Phoenix was must-see TV.  And hats off to the quartet of Kurt Warner, Michael Irvin, Warren Sapp and Marshall Faulk on their popular Players Only show.  They don’t use a host like me.  It’s just four Super Bowl champions sitting around jawing about football.  It’s simple, yet fascinating.

– But I think I hate Kurt Warner!  Not only does he have all-American good looks and a Super Bowl ring, but he can effortlessly hold a microphone in front of a camera like he’s been doing it his whole life.  It’s no different than Glen Suitor and Bob Poley.  They can play football at a Hall of Fame level, win a championship, play a guitar and sing in tune, emcee a dinner, you name it.  And they say God created us all equally.  HOGWASH!

– Interesting that NFL Commissioner Roger Goodell turned NBC down in its request for a pregame interview while U.S. President Barack Obama obliged.  There’s nowhere to go but down for Goodell now.  Once the media turns on you, it’s over.  And he’s getting nailed to the wall right now.

– The halftime show was the best I’ve seen at a Super Bowl.  People that are scorning Katy Perry are simply malcontents.  The fireworks show looked jaw-dropping and her outfits were eye-popping, if also a tad too conservative.  But when she came out riding a tiger, that put her over the top.  I loved the Tweet from @FakeGainer that said Perry was paying tribute to the Hamilton Tiger-Cats with that stunt.

– And with that, football season is over.  However CKRM analyst Luc Mullinder pointed out the gridiron game has become a 12 month affair and we’ll have Roughrider news to keep us warm throughout the winter months.  And with that…

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ROUGHRIDER ODDS ‘N ENDS

– The Saskatchewan Roughriders will announce their 2015 coaching staff on Monday.  Keep your eyes on this blog for the latest, and also follow my Twitter feed at @sportscage.  We’ll have it all for you on 620 CKRM’s Rider Monday in the SportsCage at 4:00 pm.

– We know that Darian Durant will be the Riders’ starting quarterback in 2015 and beyond but it remains to be seen who will be the back-up.  The Riders informed me over the weekend they do in fact have interest in free agent pivot Kevin Glenn however his salary may not be cap-friendly.  They’re looking into it.

– The interest in Kevin Glenn stems from the fact contract negotiations with pending free agent veteran quarterback Tino Sunseri have stalled.  The Riders have tabled an offer, but I’m told the club hasn’t heard back.

– A recent report that Rider slotback Chris Getzlaf was the highest-paid receiver in the CFL prior to Thursday’s signing of S.J. Green by Montreal is erroneous.  I’m told Getzlaf makes no more than $150,000 per season however that did not come from the Roughriders.

– In fact I have it on good authority that the highest-paid receiver in the CFL resides in Hamilton and his name is Andy Fantuz.  And if you knew how much it was, you’d choke on your cereal.  I’m told it begins with a “3”.

– The Roughriders have several pending free agents left to sign but the list is headed up by OT Ben Heenan.  However if he’s not NFL bound, I’d bet bottom dollar he’ll land back with Saskatchewan.  Why?  Because how he can he farm his land at Grand Coulee, SK from Winnipeg?

– Roughrider jerseys were evident far and wide at the Waste Management Open in Phoenix, following around Weyburn’s Graham DeLaet at the PGA event.  Someone wrote on Instagram, “Do these people wear these jerseys to funerals?”  I don’t know of any, but wouldn’t be surprised if someone has.  We wore Rider jerseys at our wedding (gifts from Poley & Aldag).  DeLaet finished the event tied for seventh at 11-under.

– Speaking of Bob Poley, he and his lovely wife Elaine were in the area this weekend as Bob spoke at a fundraising event in Avonlea, SK on Saturday night.  We caught up with the Polecat on Friday and he was carrying his first-ever paycheque from the Saskatchewan Roughriders.   It’s for $6.  Apparently the Poleys were rich at the time, because they never cashed it!  It’s pictured on the right.  Click on the image to enlarge.

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DRESSLAH!

Rarely has an item of Roughrider news set off such elation in the Rider Nation as Friday’s announcement that Weston Dressler has signed a four-year extension with the Green & White.  Dressler promptly appeared on the SportsCage on Friday as soon as we opened the show and here are some of his key quotes:

ON WHAT FACTORS LED TO THE SIGNING“I don’t know if there’s one thing but just six months ago I went through the whole ordeal when I came back into the CFL from Kansas City.  To be honest with you, it’s a stressful time period.  It’s not a whole lot of fun to try and figure out what you’re gonna do with your life.  I knew I liked it here.  I’ve had some great times and great memories here so I’m just happy to be moving forward with the Green & White.”

ON SIGNING A FOUR-YEAR DEAL

“Their initial offer wasn’t for that length.  We were very close on money but we wanted to tack on another couple of years just to have that insurance that if I’m going to be playing another four years it’ll be here unless they have other plans down the road.”

ON THE REACTION OF THE DRESSLER FAMILY

“We’re excited.  My parents and my brothers, they love coming up to games up here and love the atmosphere.  They have a great time at every home game.  They’re excited I’m back here and look forward to coming up again.”

ON THE THOUGHT OF PLAYING FOR ANOTHER CFL TEAM

“When I came back this past season I thought about it a lot when all the offers came in.   Seeing what other teams valued me at for their organization.  It’s pretty flattering and you can easily get caught up in thinking about what it would be like to play in this league for another team.  But I’ve just had too much fun, experience and memories here and that means a lot to me.”

ON THE SENSE OF RELIEF

“Ya there’s definitely a sense of relief once it’s all over and you can put pen to paper.  You see a lot of things in this business, you can’t take any day for granted.”

ON THE 2015 ROUGHRIDERS

“I’m excited about the team.  I’m excited about the people leading this team and the core group of guys we have.  Obviously it’s still pretty early in the off-season.  A lot of things will change and we’ll get some new new guys in and some guys will be moving on to other teams.  But I’m excited to get to work once camp rolls around.”

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Photo courtesy Jason Baker

GO PATS GO

– The Regina Pats went 1-0-1 on a two-game Central Division swing over the weekend.  They fell 4-3 in overtime at Kootenay on Friday before rebounding with a 6-2 trouncing of the Hurricanes Saturday evening in Lethbridge.

– The Pats enter the week at 27-17-4-2, good enough for second-place in the WHL’s East Division.  They trail front-running Brandon by nineteen points but are nine up on third-place Swift Current.  Saturday’s win snapped a six-game losing streak and all but one of those games came on the road.

– The Pats will be happy to be back in their home environs on Tuesday when they host the P.A. Raiders at 7:00 pm on 620 CKRM (Press Box Sports Bar Pregame Show at 6:35 pm).

– If you missed the unveiling of the new scoreboard on January 23rd when the Pats fell 4-3 in overtime to Moose Jaw before a season-high crowd in the Brandt Centre, then Tuesday is your next chance to witness this technological marvel.  It truly has elevated Pats home games to an “NHL-feel” and, I’m told, the atmosphere at the Moose Jaw game was “just like a Rider game”.  I wasn’t able to witness that feeling for myself because I was in the broadcast booth but I’m anxious to see if the electricity is duplicated on Tuesday.

– There’s definitely a buzz about the Pats right now, and I’m not talking about the New England Patriots.  Perhaps the club can capitalize on that by offering ways for new fans to get to the Brandt Centre.  For instance I’ve long lobbied for a bus service from the University of Regina to truck students back and forth.  While attending Mount Royal College in Calgary in the early-90’s, us students were afforded $10 tickets to Calgary Flames games along with transportation and we took advantage as often as our bank account would allow.  It never turned me into a Flames fan, but it certainly was a fun night out.

– Some of the older Pats fans have complained that the new sound system is much too loud and the new scoreboard is much too bright.  However it’s time to turn the page and it’s a brand new era of Regina Pats hockey.  It’s true these fans have carried this franchise through its ups and downs for the past 20, 30 or 40 years but at some point it’s like ripping off a bandaid.  The Pats need to find a way to get the 20-somethings into the building and by making their games a party atmosphere, they’re definitely moving in the right direction and they have our full support!

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THAT’S ALL FOR THIS WEEK.  TALK TO YOU IN THE CAGE!
RP
@sportscage
Instagram: ridervoice