Dupont’s 10 Things
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1. CATCHING-UP ⛳️ – Let’s start this week’s column off by catching you up on the past 7 days.
It’s been a whirlwind and as of Monday evening I finally put my feet up for a few days of relaxing and family time. I’ve been missing the RP Show and can’t wait to be back on the air Friday.
I landed in Calgary after midnight local time last Tuesday, was asleep by 2am, and awake to get ready Wednesday morning by 4:15am. What followed was three amazing days at the CPKC Women’s Open. It started by hosting the famous ‘Rink’ hole for about 12-hours on Wednesday and then, a surprise assignment, caddying for American Emma Talley for the first two rounds! Little fun fact: she’s an Alabama alumni and is good friends with NFL running back Derrick Henry… 😉
2. CONGRATS 🥂 – To Estevan Bruins assistant coach Drew Kocur and his new wife Celeste! We celebrated the new couple in Regina on Saturday as they tied the knot. I was honoured to be asked to emcee the night and it almost went off without a hitch. If you’ve got an hour I’ll fill you in on the maid of honour speech! 🙈
3. PARIS 2024🗼- I caught a glimpse of the Opening Ceremony while in Calgary but wasn’t able to really start watching the Games until waking up in Wynyard Tuesday morning. Of course, Summer McIntosh is off and running while the Canadian men’s basketball team is 2-0 and looking better each game. Felix Auger Aliassime is the lone Canadian tennis player still alive. He’ll play a third-round match on Wednesday against Daniil Medvedev.
4. SILVER MEDAL 🥈- A great story early in these games has been the Canadian Women’s Rugby 7’s team. My nephews were hanging out on Tuesday and we were locked in. The magic eventually ran out but not before the women earned Canada a silver medal. What a great sport. It’s fun, fast-paced, and physical. I first had a taste of the sport while at the Canada Summer Games in Niagara back in 2022. The other great part? The games are quick which helps you stay engaged.
5. FOR SALE 🏷️ – The Jays had the sale signs hanging in the front window heading into the MLB trade deadline and they made good on clearing out a lot of inventory. Bleacher Report gave the Jays an A grade for the Isiah Kiner-Falefa and Yusei Kimuchi trades and an a B in the Justin Turner move. The Kevin Kiermaier move earned a B- from The Athletic. The Danny Jansen move earned three hot dogs 🌭 out of five from The Score.
Whichever way you look at what the Jays have done it’s clear things are not great. It’s also clear that they want to retool and take another run with the core. As a Canadian baseball fan I’m ok with that. Are you?
6. MUSIC 🎵 – No 90’s country this week for you. But, here’s what’s on my playlist: Blame It On The Salt – Kenny Chesney… Good To Go – LÒNIS, Daphne Willis… My Maria – Brooks & Dunn, Thomas Rhett… Sarah’s Place – Zach Bryan, Noah Kahan…. & Pour Me A Drink – Post Malone, Blake Shelton.
7. CANADA’S QB 🇨🇦🏈 – Be honest. When you first read that, who came to mind? Tre Ford or Nathan Rourke?
Let’s start South and work our way up. For Nathan, the journey continues. As of this writing, Rourke is set to workout for the Atlanta Falcons after being waived by the New York Giants. I’m not as offended as most that he hasn’t had a real chance yet. If he stays patient and is ready when his number is finally called it will all work out. There is so much skill in professional football and a lot of it never reaches your TV. We all know Nathan is extremely talented but, so too are all the QB’s he’s being overlooked for. I don’t know where he fits in between Kirk Cousins, Taylor Heinicke, Michael Penix Jr and John Paddock (not that John Paddock!). I will say that he’d likely be fourth on the list for pre-season priority reps. Looking back it feels like Jacksonville was such a great situation. But there’s more to this than any of us know.
Vegas could be an interesting spot…
8. TRE TABLE 🦌 – Tre Time? Finally, Ford? Well, consider the Tre Table: they won’t let you use it to start the flight and make you put it away when things are on the line like turbulence or landing the plane. It always gets the job done when you need it and never causes any issues. Feels like Tre Ford (though I’d never suggest Tre Table as an actual moniker!). On Saturday, Edmonton will turn their offence over to the exciting young Canadian QB. Could this finally be it?
If he creates any sort of respectability for the Elks you’d have to think he’ll finally get the chance to be #1. Of course, it will all depend on who becomes the next permanent head coach in Edmonton.
I’ll be watching.
9. ONSIDE KICK 🏈 – New rules say that onside kicks cannot happen until the 4th quarter, only the team trailing can attempt one, and an onside kick must be announced in advance.
Do I even need to offer an opinion? I want to hear yours! 📣
10. BACK ON TRACK 🎰 – A week after going 0-4 and looking for a replacement for my weekly CFL picks, I went 3-1 this week and am right back in the game. Isn’t that how it goes?
I haven’t seen betting lines yet, but by their records I could see four upsets this week in the CFL. I could also see the complete opposite. Welcome to predicting this league in 2024. It’s fun, and fantastic!
11. BONUS RANDOMS 🎲 – Orange chocolate 🍊 is wildly underrated… We are inside one week away from the 100m & 200m events at the Olympics. The men’s finals go August 4th and 8th respectively. The women on the 3rd/6th… The movie Twisters 🌪️ was as good as I hoped it would be… Rich Eisen has the Tennessee Titans as his #1 dark horse team to watch this season… Loved watching Eric Staal play hockey and I’m happy to seem him sign a 1-day contract to retire with Carolina.
What did I miss?
Point of clarification 6) My Maria is in fact a 1990s song and originally a 1970s song. BW Stevenson put it out not so much “country”, more soft rock lite FM/AM – now known as Yacht Rock. Brooks & Dunn put it out at the end of the 1990s – 1997 to be exact which is pretty much when civilization did a slow decline into the modern museum of decay. What is old becomes new. – Pam Tillis put out Maybe it Was Memphis. Mel’s daughter was a class act. Another whatever she is Ashley McBride just put it out… Read more »