Scruffy’s This N That

1 – SOME FREE ADVICE:  A tweet last week, which was expanded upon in last week’s column, drew the ire of TSN’s main CFL producer. Chris Edwards, who came off as having a very thin skin, went after me for criticizing the fact that the network he works for does a terrible job in promoting one of the network’s entities as was evident when there was no pre-game show leading into the Argos-Riders tilt with the decision being made to air a show of “Why We Love Football”. Hey, don’t worry, they repeated things Saturday before the Hamilton-Calgary game. All of this while giving a one-hour pre-game show for an international exhibition soccer game featuring Australia and Canada. Edwards decided to take a strip out of me while calling me clueless which is fine. With that being the case, here is one “clueless” man’s thoughts as to how TSN and Mr. Edwards – who claims that he and TSN are doing a good job while admitting they could be better – can actually be better:

1. You make a big deal of Friday Night Football! If you are going to do this, then act on it! At minimum, you need a 30-minute pre-game show. In fact, you need a pre-game show before every game unless it’s a two or three game day.  A show that features the combatants who will play, a comprehensive look at the game with the panel, a scene-setter and interview from the stadium, an insiders report from Dave Naylor, Farhan Lalji or both and other news from around the league. 
2. Having a former official in studio with you to discuss controversial calls made on the field or looked at by the command centre. There are too many upset with the command centre for the work they do. Explain to the fan what is going on! Let’s go one step further and put a camera inside the centre like we see with MLB. This is something that should have been done years ago. 
3. Giving us a completely different look for games that are on CTV.  That means a different host, a different panel (both whom could be onsite), different graphics and perhaps a dedicated Saturday afternoon play-by-play crew. 
4. A dedicated CFL show that could run on Thursdays.  This show could go around the league talking to players, broadcasters, reporters. If you can bring College Football Live and NBA Today from ESPN into our living rooms, why can’t you give us a CFL specific show that fans can get into? Have features on USports, CJFL and Canadian players making waves in the NCAA. It’s not that hard is it? 

Those are just some ideas, and I am sure I have missed a thing or two.

As I have said in the past, when TSN wants to promote the CFL they do it and they do a great job of it. All you have to do is look at Grey Cup week. It can be so much better though. The NFL coverage gets ramped up during the playoffs, but Week 1 is treated the same as Week 12 and Week 15. This is what TSN needs to do with the CFL. Fans of the league deserve better and so does the league itself.  Many say the league just has to deal with it because TSN is the only broadcaster interested in doing games. I don’t argue that when I see Sportsnet having the NHL and MLB in their backpocket. It would really squeeze the CFL and have people asking where they can find games at this time of year. 

I have zero problem with Kate and the panel, the broadcasters and the sideline personalities. The production of the game itself to me is fine. As we all know, there is so much more than the game itself that needs to be brought forward. Make the overall presentation better, make the league better and get people talking about it. 

2 – FRONT OFFICE STABILITY: No one could have been surprised when the Riders announced Tuesday that Corey Mace and Jeremy O’Day have signed contract extensions that will keep the pair around through the 2028 season. Is anyone surprised by this? Even those who were sour on O’Day sticking around when Craig Dickenson was let go as head coach have to admit that he has done a tremendous job in making the Riders a legitimate Grey Cup contender. One of the biggest moves he made was hiring Mace. I don’t have to tell you what his body of work has been since assuming the head coaching duties. Yes, this team is struggling down the stretch, but they are one win away from going to Winnipeg for the Grey Cup which is what many in the 306 have wanted. Now if they could just get the in-stadium support that they deserve.

3 – AWARD SEASON: We will soon find out what Riders are going to be nominated for year-end awards. I don’t think there is any doubt that Trevor Harris will be the team’s MOP nominee, and I would think Logan Ferland gets the top lineman award, but then what.  Rolan Milligan won’t be the top defensive player again this year.  Does Malik Carney get it? What about Jameer Thurman? I don’t think Tevaughn Campbell would get the nod, but I would certainly have him as the team’s top Canadian. I have no clue as to who the top special teams player would be since Brett Lauther has struggled, and Mario Alford really hasn’t been as good as in years past plus he has been hurt. As for top rookie, I would probably cast a vote if I had one for OL Payton Collins if he hadn’t spent some time on the DL. As a result, I would probably have to go with the team’s first-round draft pick Ali Saad who has made a nice contribution to the D line. 

It’s also interesting to note that a team that is 12-4 going into the weekend has only eight rookies eligible with two of them being punters.  Is there a correlation between success on the CFL field when there aren’t a lot of first-year players being impact guys? 

4 – NO “W” IN WINNIPEG: In what the Riders hope wasn’t their last trip to Princess Auto Stadium this season, they walked off the field losing 17-16 to the Bombers on Friday. There was no doubt going into this game that one team was taking the game a little more serious than the other. The Bombers couldn’t afford to stumble while Mace’s men know where they are going to finish and took the opportunity to let several sit. I didn’t watch this one as I was busy at the University, but I did hear Dave Thomas and Luc Mullinder (who are doing a fine job, but man oh man they could cut back on the in-game sponsor reads) call the final few moments. It was good to hear Jack Coan get some reps and it was good to see that a Riders team that obviously didn’t dress their Grade A lineup went toe-to-toe with a Winnipeg team that did. I would expect the lineup to look a little different at Mosaic in one week’s time when B.C comes to town in a game where I think both will want to send a message to the other should they meet again in the Western Final which I think occurs. 

5 – NFL WEEK 7:  Here are some items to look for as you watch NFL games this weekend. 

• Close games and fantastic finishes continue to be a trend as there have been 27 games with a game-winning score in the final two minutes of regulation or in overtime, the most through Week 6 in NFL history.
• The Denver Broncos lead the NFL with 30 sacks this season, tied with the 2013 Kansas City Chiefs for the most sacks by a team in its first six games since 1990. In Week 7 against the New York Giants, Denver can become the third team since 1990 with at least 35 sacks in their first seven games of a season, joining the 2013 Kansas City Chiefs (35 sacks) and 2000 Tampa Bay Buccaneers (35).
• Chicago Bears quarterback Caleb Williams may be getting it in year two after struggling as a rookie. Williams goes into Sunday’s home game against New Orleans having thrown at least one TD pass in his last six games. He also has not thrown an interception in six of his last seven home games.
• Dallas quarterback Dak Prescott, since Week 4, has at least three touchdown passes and a passer rating of 120-or-higher in three consecutive games.On Sunday against Washington, Prescott can become the third player in NFL history with at least three touchdown passes and a passer rating of 120-or-higher in four consecutive games, joining Russell Wilson (five consecutive games in 2015 with Seattle) and Andrew Luck (four consecutive games in 2018 with Indianapolis). Additionally, with three touchdown passes, Prescott can become the sixth player all-time with at least three touchdown passes in 40 games in his first 10 career seasons, joining Pro Football Hall of Famers Peyton Manning (48 games) and Dan Marino (48) as well as Patrick Mahomes (44, in ninth season), Aaron Rodgers (43) and Russell Wilson (41).

6 – SCHERZER/SCHNEIDER: If the Blue Jays beat the Mariners and advance to the World Series and if they should win the World Series, you can talk about the exploits of Vladimir Guerrero Junior all you want, but the marquee moment of this playoff run is the exchange – if that’s what you want to call it – between Max Scherzer and John Schneider in Game 4 of the ALCS. Schneider had to expect knowing Scherzer’s fiery attitude what might happen when he came out to try and take the ball from him. As you know, Mad Max told Schneider to turn his ass around and head back to the dugout. What happens if Schneider is insistent that Scherzer give him the ball? What type of scenario happens there? I’ve seen pitchers tell managers that they don’t want to come out, and I have seen situations where pitchers have come out, but they have let it be known they aren’t happy with it. What happens with Schneider if Scherzer doesn’t get Randy Arozarena and the Mariners stage a rally? 

7 – MARK SCHEIFELE: I guess it shouldn’t be that surprising, but I was surprised on Thursday night to learn Mark Scheifele’s next point will make him the top point producer in the history of the Winnipeg Jets. I guess part of the surprise is the fact I have to remember that the Jets 2.0 are talking about Atlanta Thrasher records and not the Jets from the days when they had Teemu Selanne and Dale Hawerchuk.  Scheifele is one of many who have committed long-term to the Jets which is why I don’t think that team is going anywhere anytime soon.  I also wonder if there is a spot for him on Team Canada. 

8 – PJFC PLAYOFFS:  Remember a few weeks ago when I said, the PJFC season is starting which basically means in what Saskatchewan city will the league final go in seeing it is seemingly always the Hilltops and Thunder as the last two teams standing. Guess what! It’s playoff time in the PJFC and both Regina and the Toppers are at home.  The Thunder meet the Edmonton Wildcats Sunday afternoon at Leibel while the Winnipeg Rifles head to Saskatoon.  Regina finished in first place so I expect the Hilltops will be in Regina next weekend. I would have to go back, but I would love to know when the top two teams in the league at the end of the regular season weren’t Saskatoon and Regina.

9 – WEEKENDS AT THE “U”: It’s time to go home. For the last umpteen years, I have welcomed people into the Centre for Kinesiology, Health and Sport at the University of Regina for basketball games and for what will be the 3^rd year this season—volleyball. Those who know me know I have a soft spot for Cougar Athletics and I always have despite the fact that I am not of a U of R alumni.  The work the athletes that represent the U of R do while maintaining a class load is tremendous and they deserve every little bit of support they get. The volleyball season started last night with a team that should be improved from last year and maybe a playoff team taking on Winnipeg again tonight.   LET’S GOOOOOOOO!!!!

10 – RANDOM THOUGHTS:

• There are just good people that deserve to be in the spot where they are. Two of those people are Rob Vanstone and Sara Orlesky. As you all know, Rob does a fantastic job of covering the Riders for the football team after his long career doing so with the Leader-Post. It’s always great seeing Sara do her thing with the Winnipeg Jets just as it was when she was working CFL sidelines. She does a tremendous job on Jets broadcasts and with the team. Both are locals that are proud of their teams and show it every day.  Add to that that they are just good people as well. 
• If you were to have a fight between NFL Head Coaches Dan Campbell and Mike Vrabel who wins? Could the winner take Corey Mace? 
• No team in pro sports does tributes/ceremonies better than the Montreal Canadiens. The tribute they had for the late Ken Dryden before their season opener proved it yet again. 
• Shohei Ohtani simply isn’t real. As many have already stated, what he did in Game 4 of the NLCS against Milwaukee might be the best game any individual has had in major league history. 

That’s all I got. Have a great week!