DuPont’s 10 Things

By: Darren Dupont:

Coming to you from Kindersley, Saskatchewan here’s this week’s 10 Things:

1. BACK TO MY ROOTS – Kindersley is where I got my start in broadcasting as radio voice of the SJHL’s Kindersley Klippers back in the fall of 2006. I have such fond memories of my two years in Kindersley and there’s a conference championship banner hanging from the rafters from my second season with the team. My social media posts this week have even sparked a little nostalgia. I’m getting a few reach outs from former players and coaches remembering the early days. It’s been fun.

2. ON THE ICE – We are through one full day of the provincial curling playdown at the West Central Event Centre. This is the first time that both mens and women’s play downs have been held at the same time in the same venue. To say it’s hectic would be an understatement, but it’s all coming together and running smoothly. On the ice, Ashley Thevenot, the defending champions earned a win in their second draw to pull their record, even at one and one heading towards Wednesday. On the men’s side, Rylan Kleiter picked up a pair of wins and sits at the top to standings. It’s a full team round robin on each side with the top four teams advancing to the page playoff on the weekend. Catch all the action on the Curl Sask YouTube page or check your local TV listings.

3. THE SJ – being in Kindersley has me thinking about my time in the SJHL better known as the SJ and big news this week out of Estevan. The club decided to part ways with long time head coach Jason Tatarnic and assistant coach Drew Kocur has been appointed interim coach and GM of the club through the end of the season. Drew is a great friend of mine, I MC’ed his wedding, and he is a rising star in the coaching ranks. Well, it’s never fun to see a coach get fired, I’m excited for Drew to see what he does with this opportunity. Estevan is a great hockey community.

4. COACHING MOVES – Speaking of coaching, the carrousel continues to turn in the NFL. Josh McDaniel is back in New England as the offensive coordinator for the third time and after the Detroit Lions exit from the playoffs offensive coordinator, Ben Johnson has been hired as the head coach of the Chicago Bears. I’ve seen mixed reviews on the hiring of Johnson as the Bears’ next head coach but I’m curious to see how he does. He has a great young quarterback, tons of weapons, and will bring an enthusiasm and optimism to a fanbase that sure could use some. Let’s see if they can fix that defence and get the bears back to the playoffs.

5. FINAL FOUR – The Score ranked the four possible Super Bowl combinations from most to least interesting and had the Bills/Commanders at number four. What?!? That’s easily the most compelling of the four possible Super Bowl matchups in my mind and it’s not close. I would take Commanders versus Chiefs as my second most desirable matchup, followed by Bill/Eagles and then Chiefs/Eagles as my least favourite. You?

6. CFP – I’ll be honest I did not catch a snap of the college football national championship on Monday. I was excited to find out that I wouldn’t be broadcasting curling Monday night and that I’d actually be able to watch the game. Then it came and went and I completely missed it. Now granted, I was busy with prep meetings and other things at the venue, but this was one of the least exciting national championship games in recent memory. There was just no buzz. In the end, Ohio State kept the national championship inside the Big Ten thanks to a 21 point second quarter that ultimately ended Notre Dame’s Cinderella run. I feel for Irish fans and was on their bandwagon, but Ohio State, after the Michigan loss, was clearly the best team in college football.

7. End of the SEC? – That’s what fans are asking after OSU’s championship. Combine that with the SEC‘s dreaded record in the bowl season and one could argue the point. The Big Ten is clearly on top of college football. Ohio State is projected to be good again next year so too is Penn State Oregon and even Michigan should be a Top 10 team again before long. Fans wanna tout the end of the SEC, but that’s clearly not a thing as college football continues to thrive. It should continue to be fun in RP’s neck of the woods too as Florida and Miami are both expected to be really good. Is it fall yet?

8. McDavid Suspension – I don’t really have a problem with any of it. If you’ve been living under a rock, Connor McDavid was handed out a three game suspension for his cross check to the face of Vancouver’s Connor Garland. Can’t do it. I get the three games, though I probably would have made it two to be in line with the suspension Auston Matthews received for a similar incident. We need to protect the stars but he wasn’t taking a cheap shot. He was just frustrated. I get it. He let it out. It wasn’t really that bad and he’ll sit a few games for it. I personally love seeing more emotion out of 97 and the more we get the more I think we will grow to like him. The dressing room stuff during the Cup? Outstanding. But also, mess with McDavid and you may eat his stick. Your call.

9. AO Down Under – Sometimes it feels like a lot to stay on top of everything I’ve touched on here but the truth is I’m interested in it so it’s not hard. It’s impossible to be up on everything all the time so I let my mind go to the places that I’m interested when I’m interested and it’s a pretty good path to happiness. With that in mind I have been able to catch a bit of the Australian Open even after some disappointing early exits from the Canadians. The early morning and late night draws actually work well for me. Tuesday morning saw Novak Djokovic get past young Carlos Alcatraz in a four set thriller. Watching from my Kindersley hotel suite over coffee was the perfect start to my day. Tennis is still good despite no Federer, Murray, or Nadal.

10. Randoms – Vancouver is the lone Canadian team sitting outside the NHL playoffs as we wake up this morning. …. Have you watched TGL yet? Google it. It’s not bad. I’ve watched but I’m not hooked yet… At 8am in Sask you can’t tell the difference between 8am and 2am, it’s that dark. I love driving on the open roads though and miss it. … During a day of calling three curling draws over 12 hours at the rink I’ll consume two bottles of water, three cups of coffee and a thermos of herbal tea… chalk me up as pulling for a Buffalo/Washington Super Bowl.

Have a great rest of the week!