Scruffy’s This N That

1 – CFL DRAFT: Do we know the CFL Draft is happening on Tuesday? Is it just me or has there been literally no buzz leading up to one of the league’s biggest events? I had to laugh earlier this week when RP told me he was driving down a Florida interstate and there was a billboard with a countdown clock to the NFL Draft.  Just a simple move to remind fans it is happening. However, north of the border that isn’t happening and the teams aren’t doing a lot either to remind their respective fanbases hoping they know and just follow along. 

Going into the NFL Draft, we know a lot about many prospects who will go in the first and second round, but do we know anything about the two Louisville defensive linemen who were in the top 10 in the last CFL Scouting Bureaus list or the two Boston College offensive linemen? The hardcore fans of this league might, but you have those people already. 

Are teams holding draft parties? If so that information should have been given a while ago so that fans can make plans because right now, the Stanley Cup playoffs is what’s taking priority for many in our country. 

It is just another case of the CFL seemingly not caring about its product which is so much more than the activity on the field from opening kickoff to the final snap of Grey Cup. Putting things on Facebook and Twitter are free, but the league’s social media team must not realize that. I would be flooding feeds with information but I guess I have a different thought process than the league.

2 – RIDER NEEDS:  The Riders as it stands now have the 9^th and last selection of the first round. It is a position they certainly won’t apologize for.  I don’t think the team needs to do what so many do at the draft and find the best Canadian OL available to use with a 1^st round pick. I think what is needed is someone to improve a defence that was hit hard by free agency or a receiver after losing Tommy Nield and then Ajou Ajou.  The team is known to wanting to stay local if possible, with first round picks and that has been a good approach to take over the years.  I think they can take a chance and roll the dice hoping that Regina native and U of S edge rusher Charlie Parks is there at pick 18 which I think they would and then perhaps grab a receiver with that 9^th pick.  There are a lot of good pass-catchers who will be taken. It will just be a situation of how does the scouting staff rank those guys. 

3 – NFL DRAFT:  Two days and three rounds done. One more day and four more rounds to go. The first round of the draft saw no surprise at the top as Fernando Mendoza went to the Raiders, but after that there were some decisions made that were questionable starting with Arizona at 3.  Jeremiah Love might be the offensive rookie of the year and he was arguably the best athlete on the board, but the Cardinals could have gotten a boatload in a package for 3.  Love does nothing for them short-term, but a package of picks and players would have done them a lot of good. 

Of course, what Arizona did pales in comparison to what the Rams did. Ty Simpson at 13? Really? That pick raised a lot of eyebrows, and it should have.  Yes, the Rams need to find their replacement for Matthew Stafford, but this was a team that was close to the Super Bowl and again they did nothing to improve their product short-term.   While the two NFC West teams were the losers as far as I’m concerned, the two New York teams were the winners especially the Jets.  Yes, I just put winners and the New York Jets in the same sentence.  New York got edge rusher David Bailey who is a monster and then they added receiver Omar Cooper, who was one of Mendoza’s targets at Indiana, and tight end Kenyon Sadiq who had a great career at Oregon and will remind people of George Kittle.  They have set the table for next year when they have three first-round picks with one of those likely to be a quarterback in a draft where there are a lot of good ones who will be available. 

4 – REAL/BRANDT: If the city says OK, Brandt will soon own some properties on the exhibition grounds including the Brandt Centre. As expected, the move is being met with optimism by some and pessimism by others.  I’m all for it.  REAL has been an albatross for the city of Regina for years. It is a great facility that shines when big events like the Brier or Grey Cup come to town, but it is a burden on taxpayers.  Giving the Brandt Centre to Brandt should improve the fan experience as Brandt can now collect the revenue from concessions and alcohol sales.  Those prices were set by REAL and now Brandt can do that which should hopefully result in hockey games being more fan friendly and yes, that includes tickets. On the surface, this should be a good thing.  Actions mean more than words though as it will be up to Brandt to make the rink a desirable place to be in the winter again.  Time will tell!

5 – CHANGE THE OFFSIDE RULE:  Monday was a bizarre night in Raleigh as the Hurricanes scored twice in overtime to beat Ottawa.  The first OT goal caused pure chaos as it was determined the play was offside with a penalty then happening before everything could be reviewed with an unsuccessful penalty shot then being called. 

Many were wondering why the penalty was called after the play is technically dead with the offside. I was one of them until I started to think about it and I think this makes sense so hear me out. 

The puck goes into the zone, and the Senators know it is offside. With no perceived punishment coming until the play is stopped and the clock is wound back, there is nothing stopping an Ottawa player from delivering a wicked slash or a dangerous cross-check into the boards that leaves a Hurricane player injured.  It could happen no matter the teams.  It’s an issue of player safety in my mind. The only thing I hated about that play is the challenge itself. I’m on record as saying that if the play continues for more than 10 seconds than you can’t challenge it.  It’s a rule change I would be strongly in favour of.

6 – FIRST ROUND THOUGHTS: 

• Has Philly been that good or has Pittsburgh been that bad?  I think it’s the latter
• At what point do the Kings realize they are good enough to be a playoff team, but not good enough to be a team that makes a long run.
• Has anyone seen Brady Tkachuk since the playoffs started? He dropped the mitts with Jordan Staal three seconds into Game 1 and that is the only impact he has had.
• The Oiler troubles can be pinned on more things than the terrible play of Evan Bouchard and he has been terrible through the first three games against Anaheim. 
• Utah, Montreal and Buffalo are just fun to watch. 

7 – MARKETING 101: It is something I first saw Canada soccer do once Italy had bounced from qualifying for the World Cup and it is something the Utah Mammoth continued this week. The Mammoth let it be known that in advance of their first ever home playoff game in Salt Lake City that you could come down with a Golden Knights jersey and exchange it for a Mammoth one. Hundreds turned out. Was Salt Lake City a Knights town before the Mammoth showed up?  What a great promotion.  In Toronto, fans handing in their Italy shirt got a free Canadian soccer jersey to promote the World Cup and as a way of saying thank you, Canada Soccer let those turning in their Italian garb keep it.  I don’t know if the Mammoth did that or not. 

We always see what it is like when the Leafs come to Western Canada.  Its like a home game in Calgary, Edmonton and Vancouver. Those teams should do that.  We know what a Stampeders-Riders game is like in Calgary so why wouldn’t the Stampeders do something similar. It’s a win-win stunt. 

8 – STARTING A TRADITION:  I see it at NHL games and I see it at NFL games.  Whether it is someone in Seattle raising the 12 flag or someone in Carolina turning the siren on or someone in Buffalo banging the drum before a Sabres game, a lot of teams do something to get the crowd fired up.  Does anyone in the CFL do this? If not, why? Again, it is so easy.  Yeah, it would be a bold rip-off of the Seahawks but have a former player or a local or provincial celebrity raise the 13^th man flag somewhere in the stadium. Throw a flashy video on the Maxtron and get the crowd going.  Yeah, the Riders entrance gets the crowd energized but keep the momentum up. Start a new tradition! 

9 – JEFF HOFFMAN: Its been decided for the immediate future that Jeff Hoffman will no longer be the closer for the Blue Jays. It is something that fans of the team wishes would have happened last year in the playoffs. Hoffman has been bad this year, but after last year this falls on the Blue Jays for failing to find a legitimate closer. In fact, one could argue that Hoffman should have been sent elsewhere after allowing the game-tying homer to Miguel Rojas in Game 7 of the World Series. 

It has not been a good first month for Toronto as they are 10-15 going into Saturday’s game against Cleveland and pitching—particularly the bullpen, has been atrocious.  Fans can’t blame late inning collapses on Brendon Little anymore as he is in Buffalo and now they can’t blame Hoffman if a 9^th inning lead goes up in smoke. Is anyone getting on Max Scherzer’s case because he has been awful this season and the last time I looked Vladimir Guerrero, who despite batting .323, has only hit two homers.  Your marquee player has to be better.  There is still a long ways to go in the season and they are more than capable of doing from June 1 on what they did last year but you gotta admit Jays fans that this team has a lot of holes in it that you didn’t think would appear.  Hey, at least you’re not a fan of the Mets or Phillies. 

10 – RANDOM THOUGHTS:

• No matter where Montreal ends up this season, will they be the team to beat in the Eastern Conference next season?
• Play-by-play is different, but the ESPN pre-game and intermissions of the NHL is far better than what Rogers gives us. 
• Until Matthew Schaefer exploded on the scene, many believed Ivan Demidov would be the NHL rookie of the year this season. I would think Porter Martone would be the odds-on favourite to win next year seeing he will technically still be a rookie.
• I wonder if Patriots owner Robert Kraft has told Mike Vrabel to start behaving himself.  

That’s all I got.  Have a great week!