Scruffy’s This N That

1 – C’MON TSN:  The following is not a shot at those who are involved in bringing the CFL into our living rooms each week during the football season and do a good job, but it is directed at the network itself who showed without a shadow of a doubt that it really doesn’t give a rat’s ass about one of their major properties on Friday night. 

Under no circumstances would you ever see a Blue Jays game on Sportsnet come on without a pre-game show.  Under no circumstances do you see a Winnipeg Jets game on TSN come on without a pre-game show.  Under no circumstances would you see a World Junior game involving Canada come on without a pre-game show. Canada played an international friendly soccer game in Montreal Friday night and it had a half-hour pre-game show so can someone at TSN please explain why you didn’t give us a pre-game show for Friday Night Football? With a half hour to go until kickoff, we got an episode “Why We Love Football” which might be one of the biggest pieces of garbage the network produces. 

A league which desperately craves credibility can’t even get a pre-game show from its broadcaster.  That’s disgusting.  Kate and the panel (which I don’t mind) should have had thoughts on the game, a set-up from Brit Dort, interviews with members of both teams and whatever else.  Instead, we get a “Hi here we are” and a toss to Dustin Nielson and Duane Forde for kickoff.  Sorry TSN, that is unacceptable.  You need to be better when it comes to this league.  There are so many things TSN could do to improve their broadcasts, but they don’t want to.  Hey, at least we got a new scorebug this year after the same one had been used for years.

2 – IMAGINE: You can’t go anywhere these days in Canada without hearing about the exploits of the Toronto Blue Jays.  This is particularly true in Toronto as you know. It was the same when the Raptors went on their march to the NBA Championship and God only knows what it will be like if the Leafs ever find themselves in, and winning a Stanley Cup. What am I missing? Oh yeah! Did the Toronto media go above and beyond last year when the Argos won the Grey Cup?  How about in 2022 or 2017?  They were barely a blip on the radar when it came to the Toronto media.  Imagine how much better the CFL could be in Toronto if the media actually promoted the team the way they do the other three. Would the Argos be in the state they are? Would the CFL be in the state it is?  We know the answer to both of those questions and so do many others. 

There are many out there who think the league could survive without a team in Toronto. I am not one of those. While support is obviously lukewarm, you need corporate Canada on board, and many head offices are in Toronto.  We have seen things like “Overdrive” doing their show from BMO Field before a game and there are Toronto media personalities like Aaron Korolnek who will talk CFL, but more is needed.  The league and the Argos need to find a way to get people talking.  If that means handing out extremely cheap tickets to those on Bay Street to get them at BMO Field so be it. 

3 – WINNING THE WEST: The West Final will be played at Mosaic Stadium.  In front of what looked to be a dismal crowd (distributed ticket sales-27,500), the Riders clinched first in the West with a 27-19 win over Toronto.   I still don’t like the way this team is playing down the stretch and a better effort will be needed on November 8 against either the Lions, Bombers or Calgary. The Riders will finish with a game in Winnipeg and a game at Mosaic against B.C.  I have no idea how Corey Mace handles his roster for those two games.  It would be ridiculous to suggest Trevor Harris will be a spectator for those games, but one has to think a lot of guys that normally don’t get playing time will for that final regular season game.  

By the way, I’m guessing not many of you are complaining about the command centre today.  That re-measure of the failed Jack Coan 3^rd and 1 sneak in the 4^th quarter was absolute horsecrap and you know it.  You also know if that play was reversed and Toronto was given a first down on a play where it was clear he had been stopped, and you would have the pitchforks out yet again saying the league is against the Riders.  Wouldn’t it be nice if we were given an opportunity to hear what was going on in the room when the call was discussed? Yes, it’s just another thing that CFL fans deserve but don’t get.

4 – 15 INNINGS OF DRAMA: If you don’t love playoff baseball, you don’t have a soul. If the Chicago Cubs and Milwaukee Brewers play a game similar to what we saw in Seattle Friday night, then this could be my last column with plans for my funeral to be determined at a future date.  I have watched a lot of great baseball games in my time with perhaps Game 7 of the 1991 World Series when Minnesota beat Atlanta in 10 topping the list.  What was seen last night was close though. The tension could be felt coming out of the TV screen as both teams squandered opportunity after opportunity after opportunity and when Jorge Polanco sent those at TMobile Park home happy, you could feel the emotion happening inside the park as Seattle fans celebrated their first trip to baseball’s final four since 2001.  It sets up a great American League Championship Series with Ontario’s Josh Naylor and Matt Brash taking on the Blue Jays.  As someone in Vancouver put on Twitter last night, it is B.C’s team against Canada’s team. 

5 – MCDAVID CONTRACT:  One has to wonder if Oilers GM Stan Bowman thought he was being pranked when Connor McDavid’s agent told him number 97 was signing a two-year, team-friendly $25.5-million deal.  One wonders if when Bowman hung up the phone, he heard the clock start ticking. McDavid let it be known that he wants to win and he wants to win in Edmonton.  I don’t think anyone ever thought that wasn’t the case. McDavid is also saying that with the salary cap going up, the team can’t use an excuse of getting squeezed by the cap by leaving a lot of money on the table to prove his statement about winning.  One could argue we are seeing the start of that team-friendly deal as Jake Walman and Mattias Ekholm are under contract for the future and they might not have been–especially Ekholm. 

In a media availability after signing, McDavid told reporters “It’s about winning. That’s always what I’ve preached. This deal gives both sides what they’re looking for.” I think Edmonton would have preferred a seven or eight-year deal and not two, but let’s not nitpick.

What happens if Edmonton wins a Cup in the next three years? Will McDavid want to stay knowing he has done what he wanted in the city he wanted? If he does, he will be an Oiler for life.  If the team gets oh-so-close as they have the last two years, what will his mindset be? Time will tell, but all Oilers fans including this guy need to be pretty happy with that contract and if it doesn’t work out and he leaves, I think we can all hopefully say that the Oilers tried.

I also wonder what this deal does moving forward in not just the NHL, but other sports. All superstars want to win and they want to win in the city where they are playing.  When contracts come up, you know teams will ask if said player wants to be like McDavid. Some will say yes and some will say no.  Those that say no will have questions asked of them.  We will find out soon. 

6 – BEDARD YEAR 3: I am not sure what some hockey experts were expecting from Connor Bedard and the fortunes of the Chicago Blackhawks the moment he signed, but some of the expectations placed on the former Regina Pat have been a little unrealistic. As he goes into Year 3, some are wondering if he is what was advertised.  Excuse me? Bedard goes into this season having scored 128 points in 150 games. He has registered 20 goal, 60-point seasons in his first two years and if he gets 72 points this year he will become the 13th player in NHL history with 200 or more career points at age 20 or younger. Criticize Bedard if that is what you have to do, but criticize the team he is playing with for doing very little to make his quest to make the Hawks relevant again. 

7 – NHL PREDICTIONS:  Can the Panthers make it three in a row or are they going to get knocked off the perch?  That is the question that all in the hockey world are asking as another NHL season is underway.  Even though Matthew Tkachuk won’t be around for a while and Sasha Barkov is gone for the regular season, you would be hard-pressed to think that team won’t give it everything they have to win three in a row.

That being said, I don’t see them doing it but I do see the final happening in the state of Florida again as I think Jon Cooper and the Lightning get back to the final dance.  Do they play Edmonton? I didn’t think the Oilers would get back to the Cup Final last year and they did.  By hook or by crook, I can see Connor and Leon getting back there again and yes, you could say that pick is made with some bias.  If it’s not Edmonton, I would have to go with Dallas. As for playoff teams, here is who I have:

EAST: Lightning, Hurricanes (Division Winners), Florida,  Ottawa, Montreal, Rangers

EAST WC Teams:  New Jersey, Toronto

WEST: Edmonton, Dallas (Division Winners), Vegas, Colorado, Winnipeg, Calgary

WEST WC Teams:  Utah, St. Louis

MVP, Rocket Richard Trophy, Art Ross: Connor McDavid

Norris Trophy: Cale Makar

Calder Trophy: Ivan Demidov

Vezina: Jake Oettinger

Coach: Andre Tourigny (Utah) 

8 – THE SKINNER GAFFE:  New season, same goalie.  That is what many Edmonton Oiler fans were saying after watching their team take a 3-0 lead over Calgary on opening night and lost 4-3 in a shootout.  While Stuart Skinner can not be blamed for the first two goals, there was no doubt that he was to blame for the 3^rd goal when miscommunication with Evan Bouchard resulted in a Blake Coleman tap-in.  This just can’t happen to perhaps the one Oiler who has more pressure on him to succeed this year than any other.  While the team went out and got a new goaltending coach (FINALLY!), the brainfarts from Skinner that have plagued him continued on night one of the new season.  I like Stuart Skinner and I want him to succeed in Edmonton.  He has helped get the team to the last two Stanley Cup finals, but it just doesn’t seem as if he has what it takes between the ears to become the goalie that Edmonton wants him to be.  It is interesting to note that Edmonton had no problem in getting Jake Walman and Mattias Ekholm off the list of potential free agents before the season started, but nothing was done with number 74. 

I have to think that either a trade will be coming that will see Skinner leave or a free-agent goalie will be brought in with him going wherever.  With more money on the table now, guys like Jusse Saros and Ilya Sorokin are being mentioned.  If Skinner is going to stop talk about his future and maybe have it cemented in Edmonton, the brainfarts need to stop.  Of course, he isn’t Alex Nedeljkovic. Talk about a rough start for the Sharks goalie. 

9 – BILLS BEST OPPORTUNITY IS NOW: If the Buffalo Bills can’t get to the Super Bowl this year, they may never be able to. At the start of the NFL year, they were once again lumped in with the Chiefs, Ravens and Bengals as the teams to beat in the AFC.  The Bengals are done with Joe Burrow’s injury; the Ravens are done with Lamar Jackson’s injury and Kansas City is in extreme danger of missing the playoffs after losing Monday night in Jacksonville.  I don’t care if Aaron Rodgers has the Steelers at 3-1.  The Chargers and Broncos could make some noise as could Indy and the Jaguars, but if the Bills aren’t the clear favourites to win the AFC, then I don’t know who is. 

10 – NFL WEEK 6:  Here are some nuggets of information for you as settle in for another Sunday of the four-down game. 

• In 1970, kickers made 59 percent of field goals total. In 2025, kickers are 73 percent on kicks of 50 and over yards. 
• Los Angeles Rams wide receiver Puka Nacua leads the NFL with 52 receptions, the most by a player in his team’s first five games of a season in NFL history. He has recorded at least eight receptions in every game this year and at least 10 receptions in four of five games. With seven receptions at Baltimore on Sunday (1 p.m. ET, Nacua can surpass Adam Thielen (58 receptions in 2018 with Minnesota) for the most receptions by a player in his team’s first six games of a season in NFL history.
• Tampa Bay wide receiver Emeka Egbuka leads all rookies with 25 receptions, 445 receiving yards and five touchdown receptions this season. He has recorded a touchdown reception in four of five games and over 100 receiving yards in each of his past two. With at least 100 receiving yards against San Francisco on Sunday, Egbuka will become the fifth rookie in the Super Bowl era to reach the mark in three consecutive games, joining Odell Beckham Jr. (four consecutive games in 2014), Marques Colston (three in 2006), Mike Evans (three in 2014) and Pro Football Hall of Famer Randy Moss (three in 1998).
• After stunning Kansas City on Monday, Jacksonville has won four of its first five games for 5th time in franchise history & 1^st since 2007. The Jaguars lead the  NFL in takeaways (14) & INTs (10) going into a home game against Seattle. 

RANDOM THOUGHTS:

• Cris Collinsworth will call his 494^th football game Sunday night making him third all-time behind Troy Aikman and the iconic John Madden.  Let’s be thankful that probably less than 100 of those games have involved Patrick Mahomes. And oh goody, we get Mahomes on Sunday night. 
• How many Detroit Tigers fans does Saskatchewan have because of WDIV?  Thanks to that channel, we got more Tiger games than Blue Jays games on TV back in the 80’s with George Kell and Al Kaline. 
• I saw a video this week of a Toronto reporter, who does not work for the Blue Jays, interviewing Kevin Gausman. Did I mention said reporter was wearing a Kevin Gausman t-shirt during the interview? (insert eyeroll here!!)
• Why is it when NHL’ers win a playoff series, except the Stanley Cup Final, they just put their stuff in their hockey bag and carry on to the next series while baseball teams win a series and drink the night away?

That’s all I got. Over-indulge in turkey and stuffing, but stay away from the cranberry sauce.  Who thought that was a good idea in the first place?  Have a great Thanksgiving weekend!