Dupont’s 10 Things

This week’s column comes to you from 40,000 ft as I make my way from Toronto to Calgary. My assignment this week is the CPKC Women’s Open at Earl Grey in Calgary. I’ll be hosting the famous “Rink” hole and I couldn’t be more excited to spend some time in the sun interacting with players and fans.

1. SMOKE – I feel for those folks in the prairies affected by smoke from northern fires. Reports have been tough and communities are being evacuated. I’ll be honest, I slept most of the flight in order to be ready for tomorrow but I’m awake just as we are entering the smoke.

Seeing it from this high at night is hard to describe. It was a clear night until we hit the last 30-minutes of the flight. I could see the starts and all the communities below without a problem. In the distance it honestly looked like a big body of water but it was smoke. I can smell it pretty good now and it’s much more difficult to see above and below. Hope this has a safe resolution.

2. TWO DAYS AWAY – The Opening Ceremony for the 2024 Olympic Games in Paris are set for Friday night. As expected, my excitement for the games has ramped up the last few hours and I’ll be watching. The USA announced LeBron James as their male flag bearer earlier this week. At the time of writing, Canada hadn’t named theirs but there are plenty of good candidates. I’ll guess that Summer McIntosh will be Canada’s flag bearer. You?

3. FAVOURITE EVENT – As we get set for events to begin ahead of the Opening Ceremony we asked viewers of the RP Show what their favourite Olympic event is. I’m a sucker for the track. The 100m & 200m are my favourite every year. So much build up and we crown the world’s fastest man and woman.

I’ll also be intimately following tennis where there are some great storylines. Andy Murray announced this week that Paris will be the final event of his career while Rafael Nadal will represent Spain alongside Carlos Alcaraz. The two will team up for doubles and that will be must watch. I’m also excited to see Canada’s Milos Raonic who has looked good since returning from injury.

What are you looking forward to?

4. THE BEST SEASON – I use to be full on Team Fall when it came to the best sports season on the calendar but that may be changing. Growing up in Sask there wasn’t much going on in the spring while the fall is quite beautiful. Combine that with the start of university and college football and the NFL, hockey being back … it’s great. But now, being in Ontario where the spring weather is fantastic, I’m starting to think that season is best. Stanley Cup Playoffs, curling championships and the start of CFL.

5. NFL CAMPS – It’s late-July and the NFL is officially back. Most teams have now opened training camp and the networks are in full-on football mode. Here are four questions I’ll be looking to have answered over the next 7 months:

Is Aaron Rodgers going to lead the Jets to a deep playoff run?

Can Anthony Richardson stay healthy and be a franchise QB for the Colts?

How does Josh Allen look without Stefon Diggs?

Isn’t it interesting how it all revolves around the quarterbacks?

6. BEST IN THE CFL – Can we accurately declare the two best teams right now? Montreal and BC jump to mind right away but Saskatchewan fans will jump and say “HEY! What about us?!” I think the league is fascinating with the parity that exists in the league today. The on-field product is in a good spot!

Who’s your top-two teams in the league RIGHT NOW?

7. TAG ME OUT – I need a break from making weekly CFL picks on the RP Show. I’m getting KILLED! Last week I went 0-4 while RP went 3-1 to continue to widen the gap. Anyone want to take my place? I just cannot predict winners this season and that’s not such a bad thing.

8. NEW ARENA – Congratulations to Calgary on the official sod turning and unveiling of renderings for a new arena to replace the aging Saddledome.

I’m a fan of what I’ve seen so far.

I was picked up at the airport by a nice gentleman and former season ticket holder. Lower bowl seats running roughly $26k? And likely going upward. All to pay for the new arena. It’s the cost of doing business if you want nice things I suppose.

It’s going to be fantastic but the character of the Saddledome and the way it fits the Calgary skyline will be missed. I’m excited for Calgary. Now, Craig Conroy needs to have the team ready to content by 2027-28.

9. REARVIEW MIRROR: Speaking of the NHL, I won’t say I whiffed, but my Canadian team predictions did not look like the final result. I had Edmonton and Toronto first as the top two and though they weren’t I won’t call that a complete miss. Winnipeg, Vancouver, Edmonton and Toronto all surpassed 100-points. Here’s how the final standings looked:

Jets

Canucks

Oilers

Leafs

Flames

Senators

Canadiens

Any idea what to expect this year?

10. RANDOMS – Spent a great weekend with a couple of my good friends who came to visit. Friday was spent at the Jays game plus the Hockey Hall of Fame and others. Saturday was a trip to Niagara where we saw comedian Matt Rife live. The boys were lukewarm on his set while I enjoyed it. He does a lot of crowd work (probably more Saturday night than most shows) and it wa pretty good. He gets a thumbs up from me!… I love being a tour guide so if you want to visit the GTA and Ontario you know where to find me…. The CPKC Women’s Open this week is the final ladies tuneup for the Olympics. Brooke Henderson and Alena Sharp will be there as will a number of the world’s top players…. I’m two episodes into ‘Receivers’ on Netflix and it’s as good as expected…. The movie Twisters didn’t happen for me this past week and now Deadpool and Wolverine come out Friday. I’m getting behind!

Thanks for reading and have a great week/weekend!