Scruffy’s This N That

1 – ENLIGHTEN ME:  The Riders announced this week that the Labour Day Classic is sold out. All 33-thousand seats available are spoken for. That isn’t a surprise because you know Bombers fans will be front and center at Mosaic. It would be a surprise if the game wasn’t sold out! Next Saturday’s battle between the Ti-Cats and Riders should also be sold out, but I am guessing in talking to people this week that it won’t be. In fact, it probably won’t be any better than the last home game as only 28-thousand tickets are available which is another debate in itself. In talking to some people this week, some tell me they are going, but many have no desire to go. These people are all under the age of 50 which is the demographic the CFL is trying to attract and retain and a demographic that I am no longer a part of.

What happened to game-day being something special? I understand some of the reasoning, but when I hear one guy tell me he isn’t going because the cost of tickets is too much and then he wheels away in a truck that he brought brand new about three months ago it makes you go “Huh?”

I’ve had people tell me they are more interested in football south of the border, which is fine, but you can’t tell me you are more interested in NFL pre-season football and the NCAA season hasn’t started yet.

Saskatchewan Roughriders football is not what it used to be for those 18-49. There are many things that aren’t what it used to be, but for those that aren’t going Saturday what’s your reasoning for it? It has to be more than finances and yeah, those that come to games from over 200 kilometers away are exempt. You ask for a winning football team and you have it. It is time to start showing your support at the venue and being a part of it. There are many in the 18-49 demographic that are going which is great, but why are those that say they embrace the CFL staying away.

2 – EYES ON THE GAME: It is more than finances, but there is an appetite for the CFL if what we are seeing from the league is correct. I find it interesting that 3Down Nation is no longer reporting on weekly numbers, but there is word this week from the CFL that numbers are up in TV coverage by 10 percent year over year and the most watched broadcast was a game between Toronto and Montreal that drew 759 thousand.

This is a gate-driven league, and butts are needed in seats. If the CFL numbers coming from the league are accurate it is a good sign. The league would rather have you at the different venues cheering on your favourite team, but butts are on couches or barstools or lawn chairs or whatever so it isn’t that the league isn’t getting noticed. 

There is still work to do though. A lot of it! 

3 – EYES ON THE GAME PART 2: More people are watching the CFL, and more people are watching the PGA. Numbers from CBS this week showed the PGA Tour is thriving as events on the network are seeing an average 3 million people per week which is up 17 percent. Obviously, football and golf are different but are we getting to the point that people are just more comfortable staying at home or going to the bar to watch than going to the venue. The bottom line is the eyes of people are on the game, which is what matters, but there are still questions that need to be asked. When it comes to the PGA Tour, I think it is the fact the Tour has done a great job in promoting the stars of the game through various means. Back in the day, it was Tiger, Phil and …………. . Now it is Scottie and Rory, but there are so many other stars that are chasing victory week after week and there has been a nice influx of up and comers looking to make their mark. 

4 – PFC BEGINS: The road to what likely will be another Prairie Conference final between the Saskatoon Hilltops and Regina Thunder begins this weekend as the regular season gets underway. Both teams have lost a lot of players, but both teams have the replacements needed to likely make them the top two in the league again which says a lot for football in Saskatchewan and the many across the 306 that are helping players get to the junior and university level. When is the last time that the Winnipeg Rifles, Edmonton Wildcats, Edmonton Huskies or Calgary Colts got to the final. I truly don’t remember as it is seemingly Saskatoon and Regina playing every year. That is OK for supporters of both and I have no complaints about it, but wouldn’t it be nice one year if the Rifles were playing the Thunder or if the Hilltops were taking on the Huskies. I am sure that others outside the borders would love a Huskies-Colts or a Wildcats-Rifles final. When is the last time that neither Saskatoon or Regina were in the conference championship? 

5 – CODY GETS IT DONE: Where would Edmonton’s CFL football team be if the pressure wasn’t there to give the keys to Tre Ford? One can only wonder where Edmonton would be had they just given the keys to Cody Fajardo at the start of the season. It’s not hard to see the Elkimos are a better team with Fajardo under center. A drop prevented Edmonton from winning at home against Hamilton and they got a big win in Montreal as Fajardo orchestrated a 4^th quarter comeback. I wouldn’t sleep on that team in the second half of the season. It may be too late for them to get a playoff spot, but they will be a spoiler. I think it is also safe to say that unless Fajardo gets hurt, we won’t be seeing Ford which makes you wonder what his future will be.

Meanwhile, can we just have BC and Hamilton play every week? Those two have treated us to the best two games of the CFL season this year. Yes, it will ruffle some feathers on the Prairies, but I would have zero problem in seeing Round 3 of that matchup being played out in Winnipeg in November.

6 – THE SANDERS HYPE: It is safe to say that the NFL Media will be strongly focused on the highs and lows from Cleveland Browns quarterback Shedeur Sanders. He had his first taste of game action Friday night and you would think he was quarterbacking his team in the Super Bowl. The first pre-season game is as vanilla as can be with both offences and defences going with a very basic playbook. Sanders threw for almost 200 yards and two touchdowns and he did look good, but this isn’t Week 1. His draft slide is still being talked about. Many want to see he was snubbed because of who his dad is and many others say he’s just not as good as people think he is. It is a debate that is going to continue, but to me putting up numbers in Week 1 of pre-season isn’t an indicator of future success. Do that when the regular season starts and the discussion can start in earnest.

7 – DOING THE RIGHT THING: The Detroit Lions and Atlanta Falcons did the right thing Friday night. In a pre-season game early in the 4^th quarter, Detroit’s Morice Norris suffered an injury that resulted in him having to go off the field in an ambulance. It wasn’t a Damar Hamlin situation, but watching what happened you could see the fear and concern on the faces of players from both teams. Something I had never seen before happened as Atlanta snapped the ball after a lengthy delay with players on the field then just standing around as the clock ticked down and then gathering together in prayer until a decision was made to suspend the game. Some knuckledraggers had the gall to ask why the game couldn’t continue much like they did with the Hamlin episode that as we all know played out on the grand stage known as “Monday Night Football”. 

Both Atlanta head coach Raheem Morris and his Detroit counterpart Dan Campbell orchestrated the way the game would end as both coaches could see their players no longer wanted to participate.

It was the right thing to do, but I don’t know if football can afford to do something similar when there are higher stakes. I could never imagine the backlash if a Grey Cup or a Super Bowl was called off mid-game because of a catastrophic injury occurring during the game. Hopefully, we never find out.

8 – WCBL PLAYOFFS: We are getting down to the end of the WCBL Playoffs. The Regina Red Sox are waiting to see if they will play Saskatoon or Moose Jaw in the East Division championship as weather has become a factor with a 3^rd and deciding game having to be pushed to Saturday night because of rain with the forecast, at the time of writing this not looking great for the Bridge City tonight. 

As for the Red Sox, despite losing a league-high 14 players who moved on at some point of the season to continue their careers elsewhere as so many in the league do, they have found a way to replenish the roster. Mid-season additions Landon Riley and Chris Spry were fantastic on the mound in a two-game sweep over Medicine Hat.  Many believe the WCBL is on track to a Saskatoon-Okotoks final and I don’t disagree, but when you have best of three series anything can happen as Moose Jaw can attest to from last year. The ride isn’t over yet.

9 – RANDOM THOUGHTS:

• With Angel Hernandez no longer calling balls and strikes, C.B Bucknor has definitely replaced him as the worst ump in MLB. Does he have any idea from pitch to pitch where the strike zone is?
• I am one that visits places like PlayNow, Bet365 and Coolbet to bet on sporting events, but if you are one of those that bets on pre-season NFL, you might have a problem. 
• The NHL 26 trailer shows Mitch Marner scoring against the Leafs. HAHAHAHAHAHA!
• If you just want to put your brain on cruise control for 90 minutes, go watch “The Naked Gun”.  Stick around for the credits and watch them carefully!

That’s all I got. Have a great weekend!