DAYTONA HOMES MONDAY MORNING GOALIE

5 MONDAY MORNING THOUGHTS

1 – “IT’S BEEN A ROUGH, LONG DAY”:  That was the text message I received from Ricky Foley (pictured above) close to midnight on Saturday.  Earlier in the day Foley learned that he had been dealt from Saskatchewan to Toronto in exchange for fellow Canadian, linebacker Shea Emry.  At first glance, one would think Foley would be ecstatic.  He’s headed home, as Ricky hails from Courtice, ON, roughly 45 minutes east of Toronto.

Not so.

“He was disappointed, obviously,” Rider Assistant GM Jeremy O’Day said on Saturday.  “When we talked to him this morning he was bummed out.  He was actually in a place that he really wanted to be.  He liked the fans here, he liked the team, and he was very open with that the whole time he was here.  When we told him, he was disappointed. Like I said, he really liked it.”

When Foley was signed by the Riders in February of 2013, he said he had always wanted to play here.  A few games into that 2013 season, the defensive end said he wished he’d had come here years ago.  He refers to this franchise as “The 33rd NFL team”.  Unfortunately now, Regina is just a memory for the three-time Grey Cup champion.

“Any decision we make is for the best interests of the team,” O’Day said calmly.  “We felt like the trade offered us the opportunity to fill a position of need.  Obviously that’s one of the positions we wanted to improve on and we feel we got one of the premiere Canadian linebackers in the league in Shea Emry.”

No question the move is likely a win for the Roughriders.  The hole at middle linebacker was glaring and Emry will aptly fill the void.  And as dejected as Ricky Foley is to leave Saskatchewan, Emry – a 28-year old from Richmond, BC – is equally as elated at the other end of the emotional spectrum.

“Shea’s really excited.  He was really excited to come here,” O’Day continued.  “When we had a conversation with him, he said that as soon as he heard about the trade he put his green lumberjack jacket on.  He’s excited to get here.  He knows what our organization is.  He has a relationship with players on our team that he’s played with in the past and he has a relationship with some of our coaches.”

And with that, everyone will have to move on.  However for Foley, it’s taking awhile to get his head around.  He’s an emotional player who wears his heart (and several other things) on his sleeve.  Rider President Jim Hopson has said in the past he never bought the team’s adage in the 80’s and 90’s that players didn’t want to come here.  Foley is proof positive that theory was hogwash.

Foley is such an interesting contrast.  Frankly he looks like a thug that if you saw coming down the street, you’d cross to the other side to avoid.  In truth he’s an intelligent, thoughtful, generous person.  He looks like trouble but his neighbour in Regina, an NHL scout of mine, says Foley is home by 8:00 pm every night.

Don’t judge a book by its cover.  And, don’t get too attached to your favourite players.  Social media was in an uproar over the weekend at the news of Foley’s departure.  However unfortunately, the ship has sailed.

“Ricky’s been a great player for us the last two years but in order to get a good player you’re going to have to give up a good player,” O’Day concluded.  “We felt it was a move we had to make.  It wasn’t planned on for a long time.  We weren’t actively shopping.  It came to our attention (Friday) night and we decided to make the trade that night.”

Foley will join us on the SportsCage’s Rider Monday today at 4:00 pm on 620 CKRM.

I’ve enjoyed my time with him and look forward to our next visit.  I also hope he’s bound for the Canadian Football Hall of Fame.  As a three-time champion and Most Outstanding Canadian in 2009, he’s got the credentials.

2 – GO PATS GO:  Our beloved Regina Pats enter a new week on a five-game losing streak.  On an historic night in the Brandt Centre on Friday when the mind-blowing new scoreboard was unveiled, the Pats were trimmed 4-3 in overtime by the Moose Jaw Warriors before a season-high 6484 fans.  The next night they held a 2-1 lead in Brandon until midway through the second period however they couldn’t hold the fort and wound up losing 8-3.

Photo courtesy Milana Paddock

“I think it just ends up being their players are better with the puck than our players,” Pats coach John Paddock said of the Wheat Kings after the game.  “They’re a little bit older, they’re a little bit more experienced, they’re obviously one of the more higher-ranked junior teams in the country.  We paid the price by making mistakes.  We had lots of try.  In the third period we got down by a whole lot but I thought for 40 minutes we played good with the exception of two or three blatant mistakes that cost us.  They’re a good team that can take advantage of it.”

Things won’t get any easier for the Pats as they head out on the road this weekend for another pair.  Friday they’re in Kootenay and Saturday they visit Lethbridge.  In between, Paddock and his coaching staff have their work cut out for them figuring out how to stop the slide.

“I think we just want to reinforce the things we do well,” Paddock offered.  “For sure, I keep calling them new players, but there are still some wrinkles to iron out.  We need to build our confidence by doing things right and reinforcing that we do them right.  You’ll feel good about that.  That’s what confidence is all about.  We understand there will be some growing pains with this and when you get a real good team, it can happen.  We can build off of it and obviously still play better.  We can do the little things better and win hockey games.”

3 – A SPECIAL NIGHT:  The talk around the office water coolers this morning – and on coffee row – will be about the Ricky Foley trade and the unveiling of the new video scoreboard by the Pats Friday night.

Photo courtesy Jason Baker

Those were the big newsworthy items over the weekend and it was a pleasure to be somewhat involved in both.  Going into Friday’s Pats-Warriors game I wondered if we were guilty of over-hyping the launch of the scoreboard however when the black curtain dropped in a pregame ceremony in the Brandt Centre which featured all five Pats owners plus WHL Commissioner Ron Robison, our jaw dropped as well.

All night long all 6484 fans’ eyes were fixated on that scoreboard and when the camera showed the faces in the crowd – which it did for most of the evening – the people looked dazed and deliriously happy.  How long will the novelty last?  It’s tough to say but you’d better scoop up tickets fast for the Pats’ next home game, Tuesday, February 3 against P.A.

As for the broadcasts on the weekend, they were an exceptional amount of fun.  I had the good fortune of calling Friday’s game on 620 CKRM with Al Dumba and Saturday’s game from Brandon with the Pats’ Daniel Fink.  My voice started to crack Friday night which was probably a mixture of excitement and smoke from the pregame fireworks.  However Saturday night seemed a lot more comfortable, getting into the groove.

Both days went by in a blink.  Even Saturday’s road trip which began with a 12:30 pm departure from the Brandt Centre and a 2:20 am return.  In between were eight hours on the bus and five hours at the Brandon arena.  All of it was a thrill.

Many people, including Pats Assistant Coach Darrin McKechnie, asked if I missed the busride.  In truth, I did.  But junior hockey is a ridiculously hard life.  Getting paid overtime – or time off in lieu – for working 14 hours on a Saturday?  HAHAHAHAHA.  Forget it.  It just doesn’t work that way.  Never has.

I’d give an appendage to return to hockey, but junior hockey would take some coaxing.  It’s a young man’s racket and I’m not a young man anymore.  However it’s far less stressful than hosting a daily sports talkshow.  The advantage there is you’re home every night.

Everything has its pluses and minuses.

4 – V.D. SPEAKS OUT:  Close to a hundred people – including Winnipeg Blue Bombers Defensive Coordinator Richie Hall – turned out to Regina’s Performing Arts Centre on Thursday evening to catch former Rider Ventson Donelson’s presentation “Unbroken – Let The Truth Be Told“.  It was Ventson’s first crack at motivational speaking as he told his inspiring, and sometimes troubling, personal story.

It takes a heckuva man to stand before a crowd and not only recount his personal struggles but also admit to some of the things he’s done.  It’s all part of his journey to get to where he is today.  Knowing Ventson for 20-some years, I knew most of the things in his speech but learned quite a bit as well.

A Detroit product, Rose Bowl champion with Michigan State, draft choice of the New England Patriots, NFL veteran with the Patriots and Packers before 10 seasons with the Saskatchewan Roughriders, Ventson has quite a football resume.  In fact last week former Voice of the Roughriders Geoff Currier wrote on Twitter that Ventson was “A fine Rider”.  High praise indeed.

But post-career, his life spiraled to the lowest of lows.  Jail.  Bankruptcy.  Drug abuse.  You name it, Donelson went through it.  And he came out shining on the other side.

I’m not going to disclose his whole presentation because he’d like to take it on the road with another show in Regina plus another in Saskatoon before taking it around the province.  However I just wanted to mention here how much I enjoyed it.  I’ve also offered Ventson some help in polishing it up and he said he’d be glad to discuss it.  However it was a very worthwhile way to spend an evening.

5 – CFL RULE CHANGES:  The CFL’s annual Winter Congress was held in Winnipeg last week and all that really was made public was Calgary’s John Hufnagel winning Coach of the Year at Wednesday’s C.O.T.Y. luncheon.  However the topic of rule changes was discussed on Wednesday and writer Kirk Penton of the Winnipeg Sun – a former CFL Reporter of the Year – wrote this in his weekly CFL column:

“The first, and likely most interesting from a fan perspective, is the boring old convert, which would be taken out back and put out of its misery if we were in charge. One option is forcing teams to go for two, while another is having them kick from greater distances than the 12-yard line like it is now. The longer the convert attempt, the greater number of points that would be awarded if it’s good.


That would drive coaches crazy from a strategy perspective, but it certainly sounds entertaining. Another option, according to the source, is getting rid of the convert entirely.


The other three areas of examination revolve around kick returns, pass interference and the flow of the game. All would improve scoring, of course.


Also, the ability to review pass interference calls and non-calls, which the league implemented last season for the first time in any professional football league, could still be removed from the rule book or altered.”

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THAT’S IT FOR TODAY – SEE YOU IN THE CAGE AT 4 P.M.
RP
@sportscage