Dupont’s 10 Things
By: Darren Dupont
1. OLYMPICS – I feel like you’re either all-in or all-out on the Olympics. Am I right? I was slow to get into the Games being busy on the road with a few work things but I’ve been all-in since coming home. The sprints have, and always will be, the star of the games but I’ve dipped my toe into a bit of everything. Tennis was great and Canada won a bronze in the mixed-doubles. We had another great gold-medal match with Novak Djokovic beating Carlos Alcaraz. An emotional Alcaraz could barely get through an on-court interview after falling short. It shows you how much the Olympics mean to athletes.
We had alarms set to wake up and watch Canadians compete at 3:50am before heading back to sleep until 7am for the next event. It’s been fun.
Heartbreaking was doing the multi-alarm system only to have Damian Warner fail to register a height in the pole vault and subsequently withdraw from the decathlon. That was hard to watch. But, that’s sports, isn’t it?
The back-nine of the men’s Olympic golf was wild too. Scottie Scheffler seemingly came out of nowhere as John Rahm of Spain (and LIV) had the wheels come off down the stretch. Canadian Corey Conners was outside the medals but had a top-10 finish for Canada.
In the end, I also really enjoyed watching Ethan Katzberg win the hammer throw, the Canadian swimmers in the pool, and the Canadian men’s basketball team came up short in the QF, getting beat by the hosts from France.
2. MUSIC – First, a clarification: I absolutely know ‘My Maria’ is a 90’s song. I’m a Canadian prairie boy. I contradicted myself by saying I wasn’t listening to 90’s country last week and then added a new(ish) version featuring Thomas Rhett to the list. Sue me.
Second, I’m off to Detroit this weekend and I can’t wait. This past Christmas, Leanne and I decided to gift each other tickets. I bought us tickets to a Walk Off The Earth concert in Niagara Falls at the Fallsview Casino back in January and it was fantastic. Leanne totally won Christmas, though, by gifting me tickets to Kenny Chesney at Ford Field in Detroit this Saturday. Even better? It’s co-headlined by Zac Brown Band and opens with Uncle Kracker and Megan Moroney. We’ll be making the 3 and 1/2 hour drive early Saturday morning.
3. 100m & 200m – If you watched the Netflix sports doc SPRINT then you already knew a few storylines heading into the men’s and women’s 100m & 200m races. Man, those documentaries have done an incredible job showcasing different sports and creating excitement and engagement.
There is still the men’s 200m to go and Canadians are still alive. Andre De Grasse will try to defend his Olympic gold from Tokyo but it will be a tall order. The semi-final is Wednesday and the final goes Thursday.
4. STINKER TINKER & A BIG FOURTH QUARTER – Another week, another wild time trying to predict CFL games. RP pointed out on the show last week that we’re always surprised when the CFL is zany but yet it happens every single year.
On Friday I changed my pick in the Montreal/Hamilton game from the Als to the Ti-Cats. Whoops! I saw Cody wasn’t starting again, the game was in Hamilton, and Bo has been playing pretty well. I didn’t give enough credit to Montreal’s defence and Davis Alexander backed-up last week’s performance with another 262 yards through the air and a touchdown (with one interception). Impressive. It’s a lesson in sticking with your gut.
My week was bailed-out late on Sunday, however, when the Calgary Stampeders reeled off 21-straight points in the fourth quarter to stun the Toronto Argonauts 27-23. Both teams are now 4-4.
5. TRE FORD – The upset of the week has to be Edmonton coming into Mosaic Stadium in Regina and upsetting the Riders 42-31. Tre Ford was great completing18 of 22 pass attempts for 252 yards and two touchdowns. He was aided by an amazing night from 26-year-old Javon Leake who ran the ball 12 times for 169 yards and three touchdowns. He also had three receptions for 26 yards and three returns too.
At 1-7 I don’t know if the Elks can turn this completely around but they are just three games back of the final playoff spot in the West with 10 games remaining. They host BC (likely without VA) on Sunday.
6. HANDS UP – If you had Montreal and …. OTTAWA as the two best teams in the league through nine weeks? Ok, Montreal isn’t a stretch but it sure is nice to see Ottawa thriving under Bob Dyce. They start a stretch of four-straight vs the West starting with welcoming the Riders to the nation’s capital on Thursday.
At this point, Winnipeg, Edmonton, and Hamilton would miss the playoffs if they started today.
7. TREVOR HARRIS – The injured Riders’ QB has been seen back at practice this week. Could he play Thursday? Should he play Thursday? I think if Trevor Harris is healthy enough to play he should play. The Riders are a different team when he is under centre, one of the best in the CFL.
3DownNation is now reporting that Harris has been ruled OUT for Thursday’s game in Ottawa. One more week.
8. HOCKEY NOTES – It’s been mostly a quiet few weeks on the hockey front with most hockey folks hitting the lake (or the cottage) for the final downtime until the puck drops again in the fall. Coming in February will be the 4 Nations Face-Off and Canada has rounded out its coaching staff. Jon Cooper was announced as the head coach back in June and now the staff has been completed by adding Rick Tocchet, Peter DeBoer, Bruce Cassidy, and Misha Donskov as assistants and James Emery as video coach.
What’s hot now? Lists of the most untradeable contracts, top players who could still be moved before the season, the top 2025 free agents, and early draft projections ahead of next summer.
With the Hlinka Gretzky Cup having started in Edmonton, the most interesting hockey storyline is next summer’s NHL draft. American James Hagens looks like the early choice as #1 pick in the draft and he’s not playing this week. His birthday doesn’t allow him to make the cut into U18 events this year. He’s a freshman at Boston College.
Porter Martone of the Brampton Steelheads is challenging Hagens for the number one pick and also isn’t eligible to play in Edmonton this week. More opportunities for others like Medicine Hat Tigers’ forward Gavin McKenna who should continue to lead Canada offensively but he isn’t eligible for the draft until 2026. Saskatchewan is represented by forward Cole Reschny of Macklin, SK and the Victoria Royals, and defenceman Reese Hamilton of Whitewood, SK and the Calgary Hitmen.
Here’s the roster breakdown: BC – 2, AB – 2, SK – 2, MB – 1, ON – 9, QC – 4, YT – 1, NB – 1.
9. NFL – training camps are now fully underway and I’ve started putting insignificant hours watching the NFL network.
The first preseason power ranking from NFL.com are out:
1. Kansas City 2. San Francisco 3. Baltimore 4. Detroit 5. Philadelphia
Agree?
10. RANDOMS – The greatest test of restraint? Not blasting airlines online when they end up doing ‘airline’ things. Not easy… I have loved hearing Jim Hughson’s voice during the Olympics every time a Canadian Tire commercial airs. I miss him on HNIC… The Aaron Rodger’s hype train is working its way back up to last year’s pre-season level… Who’s at the bottom of the power rankings? 32. Carolina 31. New England 30. Denver 29. NY Giants 28. Tennessee….
What do you think?
Good stuff, 2) Your generation needs to learn a hard truth and significant lesson. Never apologize and never explain. 5) What exactly did Tre Ford do? He came into Saskatchewan and beat a team that everyone who follows the CFL understands the Roughriders are who we thought they were. Now to sit and wait for a 43 year old broken leg QB to come in and save the season? Trevor Harris is smart. He knows this is the last stop on the train ride that is professional football. He’ll practice “load management” and start looking for a coaching job. 1)… Read more »