Dupont’s 10 Things
Hope you had a great Labour Day weekend and by now are sufficiently recovered. Let’s get to it:
1. LDC – Edmonton and Winnipeg both have opportunities to complete the home-and-home sweep this weekend in the CFL and that would be very big. Right now I can’t envision the CFL playoffs not including Edmonton. For that matter it’s easy to see Winnipeg there and BC looked good in Touchdown Pacific. I’m getting a little nervous about Saskatchewan and Calgary. 😬
2. More LD – Bo Levi continues to own Labour Day Weekend and is now 7-0 all-time. His 347 yards and two touchdowns led Hamilton to a win over Toronto and kept their playoff hopes alive. With one game against the Argos and two against Ottawa remaining, Hamilton will need to beat the teams they’re chasing and likely get some help. It’s possible.
3. Draisaitl gets the bag – I don’t feel like it was a big surprise that Leon Draisaitl inked a new extension in Edmonton on Tuesday. His $14m AAV sets a new league record and removes any distractions for a potential Oilers Stanley Cup run.
For anyone who thinks the number is too high or that he shouldn’t make more than McDavid, they just don’t understand how this stuff works. Any of the top players in the league signing new contracts will leapfrog everyone as the cap rises. McDavid’s next deal will make him the highest paid player. It’s all timing.
4. USports – I’m off to the prairies this week to start my Canada West TV season. I’ve got 5 games on my schedule starting with the Saskatchewan Huskies visiting Regina on Friday night. The Rams picked up a big win in Calgary to open their season but may have lost starting QB Owen Sieben in the process. Meanwhile, Saskatchewan came out flat in Manitoba falling behind 21-0 in the first quarter and never recovered. The Huskies will be alright and Friday night’s game on SaskTel Max, Telus, and Canada West TV should be fantastic.
5. Revenge in BC – The Alberta Golden Bears avenged last November’s Hardy Cup loss to UBC on the weekend in what was the game of the week across USports. Alberta flexed their muscles in the run game in the fourth quarter and the defence did a tremendous job neutralizing UBC standout back Isaiah Knight and all-star receivers Sam Davenport and Shamar McBean. A statement for sure.
6. NFL – The NFL season opens on Thursday with a mega match-up and possibly an AFC Championship game preview between Kansas City and Baltimore. I’ve seen each team predicted to finish first in the AFC but I’ve also seen the New York Jets in that spot too. That’s what’s fun about the final hours before kickoff… anything is possible!
I’m starting to become more and more optimistic about my Titans who open against the new-look Chicago Bears. I’ll temper expectations and say 5-6 wins will still be a great season. Here’s hoping I’m wrong.
It’s good to have all levels of football back!
7. Buying stock 📈 – Here’s who I’m buying stock in ahead of the NFL season (with their current SB odds ranking in brackets courtesy of Draft Kings):
Detroit (4), NY Jets (10), Falcons (14), Cardinals (24)
Who do you think will be better than expected?
8. NCAA – I was watching the WPG/SSK LDC but tuned into the second half of LSU/USC from Vegas. Impressed with USC and quarterback Miller Moss. Miss threw for 378 yards and a touchdown to lead the Trojans to a comeback victory.
Other observations: Tough start for Florida State (0-2) after what happened last year and the shaft from the CFP… Notre Dame looked easily like a playoff team in a win over Texas A&M…
This week there’s no bigger game than Texas at Michigan on Saturday. The Wolverines aren’t at last year’s National Championship level and Texas has their sights set on one of their own this season. That said, these are two of the top programs in the country and there will be plenty of stars (Derek Jeter, Matthew McMcConaughey, etc) in attendance.
9. Chestnut vs Kobayashi – A couple of weeks back we told you about the hot dog eating contest that would be streamed on Netflix Live. On Labour Day it happened.
Rob Riggle hosted the evening inside WWE star Niki Garcia and Chris Rose (Best Adam Sports Show, NFL Network) was on play-by-play. There was live poolside coverage from Vegas including prelim eating events like a watermelon eating record. I feel like I’d do ok in that one.
All told the coverage lasted a little over an hour. In the end, Joey Chestnut set a new world record with 83 hot dogs in 10 minutes while Takeru Kobayasbi put back 62 dogs. It wasn’t close.
10. Randoms – As if point 9 wasn’t random already… What do I pack for the first two weeks of September in Saskatchewan? I’m only taking one suitcase. It’s the time of year where 2-3 outfit changes are needed… How should I react when the commissioner of our fantasy football league traded Bryce Young to his DAUGHTER for Jalen Hurts straight up? 🤦♂️… I’m intrigued by the limited series Kaos on Netflix. I’m a big fan of Jeff Goldblum.
Can’t disagree with point # 1.
3) If I hear that term “gets the bag” one more time I will hope someone gets hit by a bag of hammers. The reality is this. Leon Draisatl was on a milk carton during the Stanley Cup Finals. He was gassed and it was McDavid pulling that entire train of underachievers. Zach Hyman can look himself in the mirror. The second point is this. Cup or no Cup and it’s 99% likely McDavid will never get one just based on the location he’s in. That guy will go down as the greatest of all time if he isn’t already.… Read more »
Riders better sign Oday to another extension for this fine 2024 team he has assembled before the completion snags him up in a couple years! lol